Return-Path: Delivered-To: amr.gharbeia@gmail.com Received: by 10.229.96.203 with SMTP id i11cs210746qcn; Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:58:49 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.150.182.6 with SMTP id e6mr4892219ybf.157.1282604328932; Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:58:48 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mail-yw0-f42.google.com (mail-yw0-f42.google.com [209.85.213.42]) by mx.google.com with ESMTP id w10si9877146ybk.26.2010.08.23.15.58.47; Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:58:47 -0700 (PDT) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of jameskbuck@gmail.com designates 209.85.213.42 as permitted sender) client-ip=209.85.213.42; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: domain of jameskbuck@gmail.com designates 209.85.213.42 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=jameskbuck@gmail.com; dkim=pass (test mode) header.i=@gmail.com Received: by mail-yw0-f42.google.com with SMTP id 5so705806ywl.29 for ; Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:58:47 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:from:content-type:subject :date:message-id:to:mime-version:x-mailer; bh=NLYGOvQpp+JKbWprN/NHq6pRK4WwAhY0f7FBUqQq2SE=; b=Lak1iBBQnGt7FnDgMwDccklYZtUZkh42WZhAW32WQT6s9HuREjgym+Q61Ry7Aa80eA Ej2lAi6EDmowoDeIQ1jNia2bIWO5M7UiYhVNSe3wh1uMeYb5QGHlmuX5eKEs8YW1iyB7 R9QYAoMc7mkO9jDP+etKLQgywpUgTm4OirfXw= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=from:content-type:subject:date:message-id:to:mime-version:x-mailer; b=cdJOz2qhUdZCS3QJuVYGfE9OZihJtTl6GAZJsiqtsF8sYnK3GYJd8M6Q64Uga7mQh7 lX7vLEYzYuL8ifhM2Hz83Ma1VLbaIWil0h13uQsf7bcRsLZ91Rva6exwBTcH2oyVZ4y1 QxUMMvYeGREJ4HaDPn1Pn58uhr0mj6Bz0d5fA= Received: by 10.151.62.21 with SMTP id p21mr6220533ybk.170.1282604327633; Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:58:47 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [192.168.1.61] (c-98-248-15-174.hsd1.ca.comcast.net [98.248.15.174]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id u42sm7733977yba.12.2010.08.23.15.58.46 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=RC4-MD5); Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:58:47 -0700 (PDT) From: James Buck Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=Apple-Mail-15--645552928 Subject: NGOs Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:58:44 -0700 Message-Id: To: amr.gharbeia@gmail.com Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v1081) X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.1081) X-getmail-retrieved-from-mailbox: [Gmail]/All Mail X-GMAIL-THRID: 1344908115740851014 X-GMAIL-MSGID: 1344908115740851014 --Apple-Mail-15--645552928 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi Amr, I hope you are well. I'm writing to ask your opinion of NGO work - I was offered a job at = Freedom House but am having a hard time swallowing their politics. = Hossam says absolutely don't work there, and while I mostly agree, I'm = just wondering if you had any thoughts about effectiveness of different = NGOs - like would one working in an NGO that works closely with the US = govt like FH perhaps have more chance of influencing US policy in a = positive direction? Or is that just a grasping-at-straws argument? How = effective do you feel Amnesty is? I've been in Berkeley a long time and = am tired of shrill liberals who squawk ineffectually about leftist = causes without mind for how effective their particular type of advocacy = is. Do you think the politically-better NGOs still have enough clout to = get things done? Hope you don't mind the random question, and hope London is treating you = well. James James Buck http://jameskarlbuck.com http://twitter.com/jamesbuck http://www.flickr.com/photos/jameskarlbuck/ http://committeetoprotectbloggers.org +1 510 734 7614 --Apple-Mail-15--645552928 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Hi = Amr, I hope you are well.

I'm writing to ask your = opinion of NGO work - I was offered a job at Freedom House but am having = a hard time swallowing their politics. Hossam says absolutely don't work = there, and while I mostly agree, I'm just wondering if you had any = thoughts about effectiveness of different NGOs - like would one working = in an NGO that works closely with the US govt like FH perhaps have = more chance of influencing US policy in a positive = direction? Or is that just a grasping-at-straws argument? How effective = do you feel Amnesty is? I've been in Berkeley a long time and am tired = of shrill liberals who squawk ineffectually about leftist causes without = mind for how effective their particular type of advocacy is. = Do you think the politically-better NGOs still have enough clout to = get things done?

Hope you don't mind the random = question, and hope London is treating you = well.

James



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