Today We Drop Bombs, Tomorrow We Build Bridges: How Foreign Aid Became a Casualty of War

In this urgent and incisive book of reportage, Gill (Famine and Foreigners) argues that the loss of neutrality as a principle of humanitarian aid has been devastating for those caught in the crossfire of the war on terror. He demonstrates how both Western counter-terrorism efforts and jihadists have impeded organizations such as Medecins Sans Frontières (MSF), aka Doctors Without Borders, and the United Nations. The book covers various nations on the conflict’s front lines, including Syria, which has become the ultimate test for aid agencies, and Afghanistan, where in 2015 a U.S. bombing raid hit an MSF hospital. In Pakistan, Gill discusses how the U.S. hunt for Osama bin Laden interfered with polio eradication efforts. Elsewhere, he shows how U.S. counterterrorism laws have constrained American aid efforts—an effect called the “chill factor.” He also provides a history of the international humanitarian movement and its pivotal organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross. Not without hope, he shares the stories of aid workers still standing up for neutrality within war zones. Gill’s deft analysis and reporting provide an enlightening account of a new world disorder, where the “civilized principles supposedly governing a war” have been forfeited. (June)