I've already put this link in my Delicious links, but I also want to make a note of it here. It's a link to a post by the documentary maker Adam Curtis, the man who responsible for The Power of Nightmares series. He writes an excellent blog for the BBC, where recently, he has been researching the history of modern Afghanistan. This is the third post he has written on Afghanistan, they're all worth reading, but to me this is the most extraordinary. His story centers around the Kajaki dam, an American aid project begun in the 50s, but he doesn't just tell the story of the dam he tells the story of the ideas, the political theories, the cultural shifts, behind the policies. By doing this he is able to link sewing machines in Kandahar with forced relocation programmes in Vietnam.
The other thing I like about Adam's blog is the way he uses the medium. The internet, text, pictures, video, links to other sites to tell his story. He's not the first to do this, but he does do it very well.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2009/10/kabul_city_number_one_part_3.html
