The Cute Cat Theory Talk at ETech. Wow, do I love Ethan Zuckerman’s blog. His approach to blogging is similar to mine, in that he tries to bring together a lot of ideas to improve development practice in the field. He does it a lot better, though, and writes meaty posts full of interesting analysis.
This post, on the use of new technologies, is one of the most insightful things I’ve read in a long, long time.
Choking on Bureaucracy: State Curbs on Independent Civil Society Activism. Human Rights Watch has released a report on Russia, alleging that the Russian government is stifling civil society by placing unreasonable limits on NGO activity. Burma is doing something similar.
Relationships with the host government are always a tricky thing. NGOs as a general rule are there to support the country’s development, but what if the NGO feels that the best interest of the government is different than the best interest of the people.