I agree that the solution is not as simple as is made out. However, the fact that other problems exist in Africa is no excuse to not make attempts to solve this one.

Regarding American foreign policy, you could add Vietnam and many others to that list. But also on the other side, whenever America enters an isolationist phase of foreign policy they get dragged out of it because there is some crisis where it becomes patently obvious that it would be wrong to not do anything (eg WWII, Rwanda, etc)

Perhaps a better lesson for America would be that whatever posture America takes towards the rest of the world, someone is going to criticize it. You need a plan for how to deal with that criticism before it happens so you know how to deal with it. This seemed to be a big issue post-9/11 for a lot of Americans.

Love your insights here..especially on its American centric message. I guess it is only up to Obama and the US Army to get Kony. Somehow if that happens, I think his second in command would take over and we could have a more powerful despot to deal with. One that has many more African sympathy, since the great U.S. just Interfered again. I thought the lesson of 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan was to stay out of foreign affairs.

What if we go in and get Kony? What about others like him. And for that matter, what about the entire army of Northern Sudan that continues to slaughter on a scale that only Kony could dream of? Next, we should go into Ivory Coast and stop the genocide there…of course with a brief stopover in Nigeria to take care of the Muslim-Christian hostilities.

Funny how the same people who want us to get Kony I suppose were the same ones that cried “no blood for oil” during both Iraq wars and are the first to denounce US military action anywhere in the world unless their cause happens to tug at their hearts.

Still, a brilliant campaign that might have peaked a little too early. I have seen a lot of Kony on fb/twitter but have yet to see one t-shirt or poster. I guess we’ll see on the 20th. Unfortunately, the American people are still too comfortable to actually risk taking action to make a difference.

I think there’s a SLIGHT chance that a new organization (with no track record) could have been successful with a campaign like this (for instance, it’s highly doubtful that Beyonce, and the like, have ever heard of Invisible Children).

But it seems highly likely that a decade of doing PR and video on a smaller, less successful scale prepared them to finally get it right. I’ve always thought IC has done very well in mobilizing and spreading awareness. I bookmarked this video last fall (as a resource to emulate) on how to, very practically, mobilize students to raise money for a cause.

And you’d have to guess that their passionate band of already-followers surely helped to persuade the gatekeepers to jump onboard.

PS – I love your other posts on global collaboration! Definitely would love to see us do better at that.

If you are interested, you can check out my web site listed above for more information about the book and other ministry ventures. I was on CCC staff for a number of years before moving to the world of healthcare adminstration.

May God continue to bless your important work!

Glenn Pearson