The FPA’s Must Reads (January 4 – January 10)

Afro-Europe in the World Cup
Roads and Kingdoms
By Laurent Dubois

In this insightful essay, Dubois explores how the growing presence of a of French and Belgian, born and raised, soccer players of African descent is redefining national identities. In France, it is challenging entrenched monoculturalism, but in a divided Belgium, it is providing a new national identity where it is sorely needed.

The WikiLeaks Mole
Rolling Stone
By David Kushner

Called the “Robin” to Julian Assange’s “Batman,” chubby 17-year old hacking prodigy Siggi Thordarson quickly became one of Assange’s closest confidants in 2010. Then in 2011, Thordarson became an FBI informant, turning over gigabytes of data about WikiLeaks to the FBI. Kushner’s almost unbelievable story investigates not just the emotional consequences of the personal story, but also the implications of just how far the FBI was willing to go to capture Assange.

A Lonely Quest for Facts on Genetically Modified Crops
The New York Times
By Amy Harmon

Last December, Hawaii’s Big Island passed a bill prohibiting farmers from growing new genetically modified crops, echoing similar restrictions enacted in Europe. Amy Harmon examines, and repudiates many of the arguments that inspired anti-GMO activism, arguing that much the antagonism has its origins in misinformation.

The Race to Save Mali’s Priceless Artifacts
Smithsonian Magazine
By Joshua Hammer

Throughout the medieval era, Timbuktu was the epicenter of scientific inquiry and religious discourse, producing hundreds of thousands of beautiful and profound manuscripts. In 2012, Tuareg rebels and jihadists captured Timbuktu and set out on a campaign to destroy the allegedly heretical manuscripts. Hammer tells the riveting story of how determined locals mounted a perilous operation to rescue these invaluable pieces of history.

Vanished
Foreign Policy
By Nik Steinberg

Nik Steinberg contemplates the unsolved case of one Israel Arenas Duran in the context of thousands of others who have disappeared in Mexico’s ongoing drug war, unable to turn to the police that should protect them.

Blogs:

U.S. Stability Operations Shouldn’t Short-Change Africa by Jason Anderson
Is Beijing Prepared to go to War Over a Fishing Incident by Gary Sands
2014 African Election Preview by Derek Catsam
The Pope’s Global ‘Bully Pulpit’ by Michael Crowley
Benghazi and the Search for Worthy Opponents by Scott Monje