Category Archives: Africa

Horn of Africa Redux

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Matthew Yglesias has a polite “I told you so” up regarding the current situation in Somalia and Ethiopia. I’ll have one of what he’s having, bartender.

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One-A-Day: Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Pathfinders: A Global History of Exploration

Posted on July 31, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I’m going to start trying again to write comments on the reading I’ve been doing over the last six months. It hasn’t been quite one-a-day, but there’s a lot of books and articles in my backlog to talk about. Pathfinders … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Africa, Books, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 4 Comments

The Revolution of Letting Go

Posted on July 22, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I’m a little late in my remarks on Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday, but it’s the thought that counts. It has been fascinating to watch Mandela’s name becoming the synonym for the best combination of political power and ethical commitment, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Politics | 9 Comments

The People Are The Enemy

Posted on June 24, 2008 by Timothy Burke

There’s not a lot to say about Zimbabwe that I have not already said. Things are bad, they don’t look to get better, they have the potential to get even worse, hard as that is to imagine. It’s not about … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa | 34 Comments

Back to Not Out of Africa

Posted on April 24, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Maybe because it’s April, I’m in one of my periodic bouts of skepticism about blogging. I spoke earlier this semester to a class about my practice as an online writer, and the occasion made me realize that I’m really starting … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Africa, Blogging, Books, Politics | 5 Comments

Playing Reindeer Games

Posted on April 8, 2008 by Timothy Burke

In her op-ed on Robert Mugabe, Heidi Holland portrays him partially as a wayward child of Western civilization who has his nose pressed against the glass, hoping to be invited back in from the cold from whence his “heathen granny” … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Politics | 8 Comments

The Ministers for Omnipotent Ruritania Offer You a Deal

Posted on April 4, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I had two separate reactions to Heidi Holland’s op-ed about Robert Mugabe, so I’ll blog about it twice. Holland argues that Western nations should make peace with Robert Mugabe, partly on the grounds that a punitive approach has accomplished nothing … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Politics | 6 Comments

Contingency

Posted on April 3, 2008 by Timothy Burke

The students in my Central Africa survey are writing papers about whether there were any distinct points at which the independence of the Belgian Congo might have turned out differently than it did. Like most counterfactuals involving colonialism, it’s a … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa | 8 Comments

The Things That Hold

Posted on April 1, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I spend a lot of time in my classes and my scholarly writing trying to explore the legacy of European colonialism and the Atlantic slave trade in Africa. I think these are wide-open questions. Depending on my mood, I can … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Politics | 3 Comments

March Out Like the Lion (In Zimbabwe, That Is)

Posted on March 28, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I’ve been fielding a few requests for my evaluation of this weekend’s elections in Zimbabwe. There are scholars and journalists out there with more recent experience in Zimbabwe whose views I’d trust more than mine. Still, here’s how I laid … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa | 6 Comments