archive

The great war of Africa

Ewan Sutherland (Witwatersrand): Coltan, the Congo and Your Cell Phone (and more). Pelin Ekmen (UCL): From Riches to Rags: The Paradox of Plenty and its Linkage to Violent Conflict. Do we have the Congo rape crisis all wrong? We've long understood the country's horrifying rate of sexual assault — on average 48 rapes per hour — to be a function and tool of conflict, but it may be something very different. Rediscovering Congo: Two decades in, the world wakes up to a tragedy — so what are we going to do about it? A review of Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa by Jason Stearns (and more). From Mental Floss, here is a brief history of the Congolese space program. Kayumba P. David (Nkumba): State Sovereignty Versus Individual Rights in the Case of the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda. Is Rwandan leader Paul Kagame a visionary statesman, or a blood-stained tyrant? Hotel Rwanda: The once genocide-torn nation is rebuilding its tourism industry by focusing on wealthy wildlife lovers. From LRB, Stephen W. Smith on Rwanda in Six Scenes (and more at Dissent). Welcome to Juba U.: Southern Sudan's premiere university, relocated to the north during years of civil war, is finally back — is it up to the task of training a new country's next leaders? Abraham Awolich on the joy in Juba and the birth of a new nation. Eric Reeves on the promise and peril of an independent Republic of South Sudan. Renewed war looms in Sudan, as the international community prevaricate (and more). Nothing to plunder: Southern Fried Scientist on the evolution of Somalia’s pirate nation. Ripe for revolt: Countries in the sub-Sahara have the same problems as their Arab neighbours to the north: poverty, corruption and repression (and more). A review of Season of Rains: Africa in the World by Stephen Ellis.