Where Soldiers Fear to Tread

The book that I chose to read for our class book review is Where Soldiers Fear to Tread by John Burnett. It was published back in June of 2005 by Bantam Dell Publishing. This book reminded me a lot of the accounts we read in Emergency Sex. In this narrative, we follow the moral career of the author, John Burnett, in his experience in Somalia. John initially joins the cause for the money not thinking about the potential dangers and horrors he would face while in the field. It is evident that coming into this position he doesn’t grasp the full extent of humanitarian aid. He states, “when we joined this relief mission, we were told it should be safe, that we would be among friendly people who welcomed our help,” (Burnett 2). Throughout the book, however, he experiences the realities of this line of work. Almost immediately after arriving in Kismayo, he is almost shot by a lone gunman. What phased John the most was when he offered a young boy a fig bar, not thinking of what could happen, and the boy was later attacked by fellow children and later died. John can’t help but think that this is his fault and his eyes become opened to the fact that his small act of kindness is easily overshadowed by the violence in this country. Aside from the atrocities he witnesses, throughout the book John starts to realize the dishonesty of the UN. He was told that he would be pulled out of the mission if violence came involved and also received false information by the WFP about he mission. He also realizes that much of what happens on the field is covered up, as a UN worker shot a woman in a riot and it was not publicized. Realizing the dishonesty he has experienced, he says “I am beginning to feel this is getting out of hand, that I am mere fodder, a pawn in some larger context with no game plan. Expendable.” (Burnett 2).

This book highlights many of the important topics we have discussed in this class by providing a first hand account of the humanitarian aid sector. The book discussed several times the real reasons that people get involved in this line of work. John states that it is unlikely that someone sitting at home on their couch would see an atrocity on TV and go out to save the world without expecting anything in return. This reminded me of the Social Exchange Theory in that humans don’t typically give without expecting something in return, (SOC376: 2/13/19). John himself even admits that money was a big factor in why he wanted to go to Somalia. In addition, John’s account sheds light on the bureaucratic biases of the UN. He states that he feels the UN doesn’t even know he is there and that he feels expendable. The United States Institute of Peace says that “Somalia has become a symbol for the unacceptable costs of humanitarian intervention.”

What I gained from reading this book is another account of the atrocities that relief workers experience on the field. It is one thing to read about the horrors that have occurred in Somalia but it’s another to actually read about them from someone who was there and can provide a detailed description of what he experienced. I think many aid workers go into a mission not grasping the full extent of what they’re getting themselves into and I think John was no different. In this case, I don’t think he was warned or prepared by the WFP before going into the field about what he would experience.

 

Questions for the class:

How can the UN and other relief organizations better prepare relief workers for going out into potential dangers in the field?

Who do you think the target audience was for this book and other accounts similar to this?

Do you think the UN has the obligation to disclose everything that happens in the field?

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Works Cited:

Burnett, John. Where Soldiers Fear to Tread. Bantam Dell, 2005.

United States Institute of Peace. “Restoring Hope: The Real Lessons of Somalia for the Future of Intervention.” USIP, www.usip.org/sites/default/files/sr950000.pdf.

SOC 376: “Being/Becoming a Global Citizen” (SOC 376: 2/13/19)

 

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One Comment

  1. Posted April 24, 2019 at 4:13 pm | Permalink

    I like how you relate it bak to the theme from Emergency Sex of an aid worker struggling to find their place in the humanitarian ecosystem and wrestling with the problems they encounter. I also think that the sentiment of being a pawn is one that is echoed throughout the aid sector as we heard today in class when talking about J’s book as well as looking back at Emergency Sex. I think something interesting that you could have added to this blog post is to implement the MMMM model for John and his journey as an aid worker.