The Brutality of Nations - Softcover

Jacobs, Dan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1557781044 ISBN 13: 9781557781048

Publisher: Paragon House, 1988

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Book by Jacobs, Dan

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From Publishers Weekly:

Paralleling the alleged recent blocking by the Ethiopian government, for political reasons, of international famine-relief efforts, Jacobs, author of What More Can Be Done for Children in Armed Conflict, and former executive director of the Committee for Nigeria-Biafra Relief, charges that supplies for the starving Biafran refugees during the Nigerian civil war of the late 1960s were similarly impeded by major nations, notably Britain. According to this detailed and shocking expose of cynical international power politics, by 1968 12,000 persons a day, mostly children, were dying while Red Cross access to Biafra was hampered by Nigerians supported by the British, who hoped that a Nigerian victory would secure their oil and other interests. Both Britain and the U.S., the author notes, feared that a weakened Nigeria would encourage a Soviet presence in West Africa. He suggests that greater coordination of efforts between private agencies under international conventions could more effectively combat the inertia and genocidal policies of nations.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

When can humanitarian relief agencies intervene over the objection of a sovereign state? Using the Nigerian-Biafran conflict of the late 1960s as a case study, Jacobs argues with moral urgency that humanitarian aid should be above the fray. An active participant in the effort to get food and medical supplies into Biafra, Jacobs tells his side of the sordid story: official intransigence, ineptitude, inflammatory rhetoric, diplomatic maneuvering, "illegal" night flights, the specter of genocide. Central to this unfolding drama is the International Committee of the Red Cross. Ultimately, Jacobs not only castigates British support of Nigeria but alleges a cover-up of Western complicity in obstructing food aid. His sincere, detailed narrative is recommended for libraries collecting extensively in African politics, international affairs, or the politics of humanitarian aid, and for public libraries with readers interested in these topics. Janet L. Stanley, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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