Flash Points: Lessons Learned and Not Learned in Malawi, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan

by Jade Wu

Honorable Mention, 2017 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards in the Political Science Category

From the hot savannah of Malawi to the cold, damp gray of Kosovo and into the volatile war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States and other donors have invested enormous financial and human resources in major peacekeeping and development efforts. Why then is the world no closer to being a better and safer place? Both a salient critique of US foreign assistance and a thought-provoking memoir, Flash Points describes the issues with personnel, language, and gender dynamics, as well as the cross-cultural challenges that often undermine and betray the best intentions of policy makers comfortably situated in Washington. Revealed in illuminating flashbacks, Jade Wu recalls her experiences in each of these four countries highlighting how, all too often, Americans in the field and the US government were unable to learn the lessons that ought to have been learned when dealing with host countries and their people. The final results were efforts poorly conceived and executed and, ultimately, detrimental to American national interests.

362 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 12, 2017

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the few memoirs that captures what it’s like to be an Asian-American woman working across war zones and bureaucracies. Flash Points is an interesting introspective journey apt for a TV series or a movie.

[Jaya Viswanathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of personal tales and observations from the author sheds light on interesting (but little discussed) aspects of working in the field of international aid. For the most part, I enjoyed her narratives. The writing is raw, uncorrected and bold, which makes up for the lack of technical skills in writing (somewhat surprising since the author taught English). My major issue with the book though, has more to do with the content. While asking questions to the after having described an incident, I often found that the author extrapolated her interpretation of the motivations of the individuals a lot more that necessary. That is to say, in a few instances, I could think of the motivations of people having been completely different from the author's statements, which were sometimes presented as absolute. Another issue I had with the book was that towards the end, the author's personal disillusionment from her experiences in Afghanistan led to passages that were plainly "whiny", repetitive and difficult to get through. That being said, I found the first two parts of the book - her time in Malawi and in Kosovo - delightful to read, (despite similar issues she faced in these places). The author's own enthusiastic and problem-solving approach in these chapters was inspiring.
Overall, I'd highly recommend this book to anyone thinking of getting involved in this field, it is certainly an eye opener.