Have NGO's compromised human rights too much in their respect for traditions and cultural relativity ? Have human rights been tainted in the eyes of the developing world because of their strong association with a sometimes unpopular West, and especially United States ? When W Bush preaches 'freedom and democracy' does it become discredited in the eyes of developing nations who have less robust traditions in this arena ?
On a related note, do NGO's tiptoe around local corruption because they have bigger battles with the IMF and World Bank ? And in doing so, do they miss the real front-line battle ? When Jeffrey Sachs dismisses the impact of local corruption on development, is he legitimately re-focusing the debate, or missing the real issue ?
In other words, on both counts, are development issues hamstrung by politics ? Should development be led by economists, or rather technicians and scientists who do not fall prey to these pitfalls ?
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