The Disaster Gypsies: Humanitarian Workers in the World's Deadliest Conflicts

(Hardback)

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Chatting with notorious war criminal Charles Taylor on the lawn of his presidential mansion as ostriches and armed teenagers strut in the background. Landing in snow-covered Afghanistan weeks after the fall of the Taliban and trying to make sense of a country shattered by years of war. Being held at gunpoint by young soldiers amid the tragedy of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Standing in the middle of a violent riot in the streets of Kathmandu. Having hushed conversations with the widows of Europe's largest massacre since World War II. These are all scenes from The Disaster Gypsies, a compelling personal memoir by a relief worker and conflict specialist who has worked on the ground in a host of war-torn countries. Initially deployed as part of a humanitarian relief team in Rwanda almost by accident, Norris has experienced the tragedies of Rwanda, Bosnia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Liberia over a span of ten years. Rich with poignant human stories, The Disaster Gypsies captures the reality of modern war with an immediacy and compassion that puts the reader in the front seat for some of the most wrenching events of our times. Norris approaches his story with a unique and dynamic perspective, having worked both in the upper echelons of the U.S. government and in some of the world's most dangerous places. Moving from face-to-face encounters with powerful warlords to quiet moments with the victims of horrific violence, Norris gives readers a behind-the-scenes tour of a world most of them can barely imagine. He makes a compelling argument that these nasty civil wars were often dismissed as tribal, ethnic, or regional disputes by most Americans, when in reality such violence is fundamentally part of the human condition. That may sound simple or even self-evident, but Norris contends that most people in the United States and Europe continue to view war as something that is outside of themselves and profoundly foreign in its nature, even as their own troops continue to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Reviews

Norris, a senior political adviser with the United Nations Mission in Nepal, begins his analysis of world disaster areas with personal notes on his career choice of the disaster industry. He then describes his work with relief teams in Rwanda, Bosnia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan-Pakistan, and Liberia, which provide insights into these situations. In conclusion, he reflects on why he remains optimistic despite the grim realities. * Reference & Research Book News *
[I]f you are interested in the intricacies of aid work in some of the world's nastiest conflicts, you'll find Norris' book surprisingly engaging for such a tough subject. * Reuters AlertNet *
The book is an engrossing read, providing a vivid memoir of John Norris's stintsfor the United States Agency for International Development, the International Crisis Group, and the UNin a number of the world's most difficult humanitarian emergencies and civil wars over the past two decades, Even as the book is about these itinerant humanitarian workers, Norris does an exceptionally good job of encapsulating the political context of each of these conflicts and emergencies in a few short pages authentic and authoritative.' * Political Science Quarterly *
The book has such richness of dialogue and detail that one is left wondering how Norris capture all of these episodes. I pictured him scribbling furiously in a notebook in the midst of all of these encounters. Some of the details he describeshis meeting with the notorious former Liberian strongman Charles Taylor, for onemay have been so memorable that they were impossible to forget. * Political Science Quarterly *

Author Bio

John Norris is the senior political adviser with the United Nations Mission in Nepal. He also served as the Washington Chief of Staff for the International Crisis Group while conducting a wide range of field work in Asia, Africa, and the Balkans.