Rachel Stanley is an undergrad at Elon University in North Carolina. Working towards a B.A. in international studies, she is interested in all things Africa, but also North-South issues and human rights in general.
Rachel Stanley
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The Humanitarian’s Dilemma
March 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
With a spring full of Arab revolutions, the entire world finds itself wondering what is next. What will the autocratic rulers of Bahrain, Syria, and Libya show us next? How far are they willing to go to silence the demands of the people? Fortunately, the international community has shown some amazing determination and (relative) efficiency in coming to a decision to impose a no-fly zone in Libya. Yes, perhaps something should have been done sooner; yes, there are still many unanswered questions; and yes, it is not yet certain that our actions will … [Read more...]
Tunisia, Egypt…. Sudan?
February 19, 2011 By 1 Comment
With all of the uprisings across the Middle East, Western leaders are holding their breath, hoping that grassroots movements in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen will not result in an increase in Islamic fundamentalism. What has not been mentioned so much is what impact these grassroots movements will have on the question of pro-democracy movements, in particular the independence movement in Southern Sudan. In a time when Western leaders and nations are desperately trying to avoid the takeover of radical Muslims in these Arab nations, a movement has been … [Read more...]
No more band aids for Haiti
January 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
With wars, natural disaster, and economic crises, people are always looking for solutions to a myriad of problems. There definitely have been steps in the right direction, but many problems never truly die down because of the type of solutions that we utilize. While airlifting in food or medical supplies is an act of kindness, it is essential that we dig deeper and find solutions that address the root causes of many of the problems that we see. “Band aid solutions”, solutions that ignore root causes while taking some effort to address topical … [Read more...]
Bring Back the Middleman!
December 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The most powerful governments and the governments that historically have donated the most in foreign aid have not really changed. The United States, along with many Western European nations, continue to dominate much of world politics and donate billions of dollars to developing nations. While this arena of international affairs is relatively stagnant, there are huge developments in other parts of the international arena that need to be worked into the foreign aid discussion. “Middle power” nations are gaining influence in their own region and the … [Read more...]
The human impact on environmental change
December 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
In an age of climate change and natural disasters, food security issues are a serious issue in today’s world. Many causes of food insecurity are not completely controllable, but many more are. Whether it comes to natural disaster recovery or the effects of climate change, governments and individuals have say over how these issues are dealt with. When food security problems are not dealt with or are shoved to the side, populations are disturbed. Many people think of refugees are only products of war and man-made violence, but environmental issues are … [Read more...]
Beyond symptoms: causes of poverty as a definition
November 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Poverty has existed for thousands of years; its existence is not in question. The debate among the international community is now on ways to address poverty. Too often, time and energy is focused on “band aid” solution, particularly within the student community. Holding a canned food drive is great, but it only provides a temporary solution to a serious problem and does not address the causes. Any permanent solution has to focus on the causes, not simply the consequences. The habit of ignoring the causes of poverty can be seen at a fundamental … [Read more...]
Pervez Musharraf on Civil-Military Balance
October 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I’m a student at Elon University, and former President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan just spoke at fall convocation. His lecture was titled “Insights into the Islamic World”, and he used the opportunity to point out some troubling historical facts that the West likes to forget about. As an International Studies major, his historical references were not new to me, but I thought that they were very important to say. He pointed out that extremists have been able to use the examples like the US leaving Afghanistan after expelling the Soviets without … [Read more...]
The role of youth in discussing U.S. foreign assistance
October 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Young people need a presence in the realm of U.S. foreign assistance. They need to be seen, and their concerns should be heard. As a university student, my view of young “movers and shakers” comes from a university setting. U.S. foreign aid covers a wide variety of topics, too many for any size student movement to cover passionately. Recently, in my own experience, there has been a considerable outpouring of student energy for certain causes, particularly Haiti. It is fascinating which disasters that energy gets extended to or not. For example, at my … [Read more...]
