Linda Polman on War Games

Linda Polman is a freelance journalist who has been covering peacebuilding and humanitarian aid in the aftermath of war for over 20 years. In War Games (2008) she describes the negative consequences of humanitarian aid, and the political nature of aid distribution: “aid is an instrument!”. Polman observed the ‘crisis caravan’ of aid organizations in post-war situations. In the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide millions of people fled to neighbouring DR Congo. “The entire extremist Hutu government and army settled in those refugee camps … A lot of money went into the Hutu extremist movement who used it to gain strength and continue their genocidal struggle”.

An interview with War and Peace Talk on 18 October 2013.

For more information on Linda Polman please refer to: her website; her Twitter-account, her book ‘War Games’ on Amazon; an article in the Guardian titled ‘Does Humanitarian Aid Prolong Wars?‘.