Texas in Africa speculates on what Hilary Clinton’s itinerary in Goma will be and gives The New York Times and their Central and East Africa correspondent Jeffrey Gettleman a sound thrashing. Ouch.
Gettleman lost me (and many others) in early 2008 with his reporting from Kenya during that country’s post-election violence when he referred to an allegedly “atavistic vein of tribal tension” that supposedly permeates all of Kenyan society. Now, there but for the grace of God go I — I cover most of the continent here as best I can and I know how very difficult it is, especially when I deal with those parts of the continent I do not know as well as others. But in those cases it’s best to err on the side of caution rather than plunge in with generalizations about atavism and relying on hoary cliches about tribalism, the most misused concept of all when it comes to Africa.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
