Two years ago, I was introduced to Dr. Samantha Nutt’s book “Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies & Aid” and was overjoyed to listen to her presentation in October 2019. Nutt is a doctor, author, public speaker, and the founder and executive director of international organizations War Child Canada and War Child U.S.A.. Her organizations work to improve child and adult education, children’s rights, ending sexual violence against women and girls, and supports economic opportunities for youth through music and other arts-based initiatives (Nutt, 2011, pg.13). Nutt has more than 16 years of experience working in war zones such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, DRC, Sierra Leone and Darfur, Sudan. 

Prior to Nutt’s presentation, I had studied the negative impacts that conflict minerals have on developing nations such as DRC, Rwanda and Burundi; how consumers contribute to this on-going conflict; and the history behind the War in Iraq. These topics deeply influence who I am today and the work I wish to produce as an aspiring journalist/ humanitarian aid worker. That being said, both Nutt’s book and presentation were eye-opening for me in a way that spiked anger, passion and the determination to make change. 

I deeply resonate with Dr. Samantha Nutt’s perspectives and I want to echo some of the most impactful information taken from her presentation and book:

According to the UN, war and violence has displaced 71 million people (Keaten, 2019). War has also killed 6 million Jews, nearly 1 million Rwandans, over 5 million Congolese, over 200,000 Iraqis, tens of thousands Sri Lankans, 300,000 Darfurians, and over 7,000 allied soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan (Nutt, 2011, pg.9). Mind you, these stats do not include the women and girls raped daily; rebel groups, militia, gang members, or child soldiers who brutally murder few to hundreds of people frquently; or the number of journalists, aid workers and doctors held hostage, tortured and executed per year. Nutt states that war simply put, is people killing people and that without peace – everyone loses (Nutt, 2011, pg.XIV). 

She continues, “there is no sophisticated weaponry that instantly can restore health, education, law and order, and good governance – the essential ingredients for social stability” (Nutt, 2011, pg.XX-XXI). Nutt reminds us how easily we can point our fingers in disgust at moral degenerates who open fire on a busload of school girls in places like Afghanistan, but how it’s more complex to follow the origin of those weapons and ask what more could have been done to prevent such atrocity (Nutt, 2011, pg.44). Did you know that 7/10 provincial teacher’s pension funds hold more than $2.7 million of investments in the world’s top arms manufacturers? (Nutt, 2011, pg.36). Canada is also among the world’s top 20 major arms exporters (Nutt, 2011, pg.33). We are not far from war at all….

Annual, worldwide military spending averages around 1.7 trillion per year (Nutt, 2011, pg.31). That is 12x the amount that goes towards humanitarian aid (Nutt, 2011, pg.XIV)!! 12x the amount that could have been spent on “averting the starvation of millions of people, economic development, women’s rights, clean water, refugees, vaccination programs, and on ensuring children can go to school” (Nutt, 2011, pg. XIV). Nutt makes a point that even though the military may help to neutralize international threat or protect civilians from abuse and atrocity, weapons have a long-shelf life (Nutt, 2011, pg.XIV-XV). Every year, 8 million small arms – things like hand grenades, assault rifles and machine guns – are added to the approximate 900 million already in circulation (Nutt, 2011, pg.32). Therefore “if the militarized strategy was working to any appreciable degree, then the global demand for arms logically should have shown – after a decade and a half – signs of abating” (Nutt, 2011, pg. XV). This example is one of a million ways she proves that increased military spending has not in the slightest, reduced the threat of war or terrorism. 

You might ask, what exactly reduces the threat of war or violence in impoverished communities?

According to Dr. Samantha Nutt, it’s eliminating the gender divide by promoting gender equality and investing in women’s education; it’s providing employment opportunities for young men to help avoid future involvement with small arms; developing more effective disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation/ reintegration programs for child soldiers or other traumatized killers; and it’s reeling in on legal aid systems that can help prosecute rapists, abusers and other human rights violations, which will help give survivors a voice. Nutt explains that “there is great resilience, courage and strength in countries where none ought to exist” … that men and women “can become a resource for their communities through education and skills training for a fraction of the cost of our ongoing militarization” (Nutt, 2011, pg.177-178). I fully support this perspective and I hope in the near future there is a global shift in how we approach Official Development Assistance. 

References

Keaten, J. (2019, June 19). UN: Record 71 million people displaced by war and violence. Retrieved from The Christian Science Monitor : https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2019/0619/UN-Record-71-million-people-displaced-by-war-and-violence

Nutt, S. (2011). Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies & Aid. United States of America: McClelland & Stewart.