Book review: Doing bad by doing good: why humanitarian action fails

"Doing Bad by Doing Good: Why Humanitarian Action Fails." Christopher J. Coyne. Stanford University Press. April 2013. --- Despite billions of dollars in foreign aid and the efforts of thousands of NGOs and tens of thousands of aid workers, rebuilding projects across the world remain sluggish. How can humanitarian efforts, intended to help alleviate suffering, fail so badly? Doing Bad by Doing Good explores the constraints and realities facing humanitarians. Olivia Mason finds that examples and case studies from Haiti, Afghanistan and wider make this a provocative and useful read for development students.