I remember sitting in a dusty transit office outside Goma, staring at a stack of UN resolutions that looked more like fiction than policy. Everyone …
Enforcing an Arms Embargo
Sanctions Explained Without Jargon
I spent a decade watching politicians debate the nuances of diplomacy in air-conditioned rooms, while I was sitting in a dusty compound in Goma, staring …
A Field Clinic’s First Week
I remember sitting in a humid warehouse outside Goma, staring at a stack of colorful brochures promising “transformative healthcare interventions.” They were beautiful, filled with …
What a Food Security Classification Means
I once sat in a humid briefing room in Goma, watching a consultant present a forty-slide deck on the sophisticated mathematical models used for determining …
Getting Supplies Through Customs
I spent most of my nine years in East Africa listening to the sound of diesel engines struggling against mud that didn’t care about our …
Checking Whether Markets Can Respond
I remember sitting in a humid, makeshift office in Goma, staring at a glossy report that claimed “market functionality was stabilizing” based on a handful …
Raising Revenue Instead of Receiving Aid
I spent nine years watching NGOs chase the latest shiny grant from Brussels or DC, treating every new influx of foreign aid like a miracle …
Cash Versus Goods and What Decides It
I spent three years in South Sudan watching people argue over high-level economic theories while I was busy trying to figure out why a shipment …
Universal Jurisdiction in Plain Terms
I spent most of my twenties sitting in the back of dusty Toyota Land Cruisers, watching cargo move through checkpoints where the only thing that …
Consent When Publication Carries Risk
I remember sitting in a dusty compound outside Goma, watching a junior researcher try to explain a twenty-page legal document to a village elder. The …