M.L. Rudolph's Blog, page 3
July 12, 2011
Ivory Coast
Reprinted from news.bbc.co.uk
For more than three decades after independence [in 1960] under the leadership of its first president, Felix Houphouet-Boigny, Ivory Coast was conspicuous for its religious and ethnic harmony and its well-developed economy.
All this ended when the late Robert Guei led a coup which toppled Felix Houphouet-Boigny's successor, Henri Bedie, in 1999.
Mr Bedie fled, but not before planting the seeds of ethnic discord by trying to stir up xenophobia against Muslim northerners, including his main rival, Alassane Ouattara.
This theme was also adopted by Mr Guei, who had Alassane Ouattara banned from the presidential election in 2000 because of his foreign parentage, and by the only serious contender allowed to run against Mr Guei, Laurent Gbagbo.
When Mr Gbagbo replaced Robert Guei after he was deposed in a popular uprising in 2000, violence replaced xenophobia. Scores of Mr Ouattara's supporters were killed after their leader called for new elections.
In September 2002 a troop mutiny escalated into a full-scale rebellion, voicing the ongoing discontent of northern Muslims who felt they were being discriminated against in Ivorian politics. Thousands were killed in the conflict.
Although the fighting has stopped, Ivory Coast is tense and divided. French and UN peacekeepers patrolled the buffer zone which separated the north, held by rebels known as the New Forces, and the government-controlled south.
Politics: Civil war in 2002 split country between rebel-held north and government-controlled south; 2007 power-sharing deal brought peace; 2010 presidential poll led to stalemate.
Economy: Ivory Coast is world's leading cocoa producer; UN sanctions imposed in 2004 include an arms embargo and a ban on diamond exports.
Facing the Son takes place in 1979, during the reign or administration of Felix Houphouet-Boigny, before the country was essentially split along religious lines.
Facing the Son, A Novel of Africa
For more than three decades after independence [in 1960] under the leadership of its first president, Felix Houphouet-Boigny, Ivory Coast was conspicuous for its religious and ethnic harmony and its well-developed economy.
All this ended when the late Robert Guei led a coup which toppled Felix Houphouet-Boigny's successor, Henri Bedie, in 1999.
Mr Bedie fled, but not before planting the seeds of ethnic discord by trying to stir up xenophobia against Muslim northerners, including his main rival, Alassane Ouattara.
This theme was also adopted by Mr Guei, who had Alassane Ouattara banned from the presidential election in 2000 because of his foreign parentage, and by the only serious contender allowed to run against Mr Guei, Laurent Gbagbo.
When Mr Gbagbo replaced Robert Guei after he was deposed in a popular uprising in 2000, violence replaced xenophobia. Scores of Mr Ouattara's supporters were killed after their leader called for new elections.
In September 2002 a troop mutiny escalated into a full-scale rebellion, voicing the ongoing discontent of northern Muslims who felt they were being discriminated against in Ivorian politics. Thousands were killed in the conflict.
Although the fighting has stopped, Ivory Coast is tense and divided. French and UN peacekeepers patrolled the buffer zone which separated the north, held by rebels known as the New Forces, and the government-controlled south.
Politics: Civil war in 2002 split country between rebel-held north and government-controlled south; 2007 power-sharing deal brought peace; 2010 presidential poll led to stalemate.
Economy: Ivory Coast is world's leading cocoa producer; UN sanctions imposed in 2004 include an arms embargo and a ban on diamond exports.
Facing the Son takes place in 1979, during the reign or administration of Felix Houphouet-Boigny, before the country was essentially split along religious lines.
Facing the Son, A Novel of Africa
July 10, 2011
Mali Overview
Excerpt from news.bbc.co.uk
The core of ancient empires going back to the fourth century, Mali was conquered by the French in the middle of the 19th century.
In 1958 it was proclaimed the Sudanese Republic and the following year it became the Mali Federation, after uniting with Senegal. However, Senegal seceded and Mali became independent in 1960.
Although swathes of Mali are barren, the country is self-sufficient in food thanks to the fertile Niger river basin in the south and east.
Mali is one of the continent's biggest cotton producers. Along with other African exporters it has lobbied against subsidies to cotton farmers in richer countries, particularly the US. It argues that these depress prices and restrict Malian farmers' access to export markets.
Mali is saddled with a chronic foreign trade deficit, making it heavily dependent on foreign aid and the money sent home from emigrants working abroad.
In 1985 Mali fought a brief border war with Burkina Faso [then Upper Volta], and relations continue to be strained.
In the early 1990s the army was sent to the north to quell a rebellion by nomadic Tuareg tribes over land, cultural and linguistic rights.
The uprising was ended by a series of treaties in the mid-1990s, but frustration over continuing perceived inequalities led to a renewed rebellion in 2007.
Sporadic fighting continued throughout 2008, despite a cease-fire signed in May. In early 2009, military successes for the government and the surrender of several hundred rebels boosted hopes of a return to a peace process.
The kidnapping of a number of foreigners apparently at the hands of al-Qaeda has raised fears that the country is being used as a sanctuary by the militants.
Mali has not adopted as tough a stance towards al-Qaeda as its neighbours Algeria and Mauritania, and has agreed to free militant prisoners in order to secure the release of foreign hostages.
This has given rise to tensions between Mali and the other Saharan states.
The core of ancient empires going back to the fourth century, Mali was conquered by the French in the middle of the 19th century.
In 1958 it was proclaimed the Sudanese Republic and the following year it became the Mali Federation, after uniting with Senegal. However, Senegal seceded and Mali became independent in 1960.
Although swathes of Mali are barren, the country is self-sufficient in food thanks to the fertile Niger river basin in the south and east.
Mali is one of the continent's biggest cotton producers. Along with other African exporters it has lobbied against subsidies to cotton farmers in richer countries, particularly the US. It argues that these depress prices and restrict Malian farmers' access to export markets.
Mali is saddled with a chronic foreign trade deficit, making it heavily dependent on foreign aid and the money sent home from emigrants working abroad.
In 1985 Mali fought a brief border war with Burkina Faso [then Upper Volta], and relations continue to be strained.
In the early 1990s the army was sent to the north to quell a rebellion by nomadic Tuareg tribes over land, cultural and linguistic rights.
The uprising was ended by a series of treaties in the mid-1990s, but frustration over continuing perceived inequalities led to a renewed rebellion in 2007.
Sporadic fighting continued throughout 2008, despite a cease-fire signed in May. In early 2009, military successes for the government and the surrender of several hundred rebels boosted hopes of a return to a peace process.
The kidnapping of a number of foreigners apparently at the hands of al-Qaeda has raised fears that the country is being used as a sanctuary by the militants.
Mali has not adopted as tough a stance towards al-Qaeda as its neighbours Algeria and Mauritania, and has agreed to free militant prisoners in order to secure the release of foreign hostages.
This has given rise to tensions between Mali and the other Saharan states.
July 8, 2011
An African Adventure, and a Revelation
Excerpted from NY Times, July 1, 2011 By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
After a half-century of underperformance, Africa’s economy is growing significantly faster than America’s or Europe’s. In the last decade, 6 of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world were in sub-Saharan Africa, and, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton noted in a recent speech in Ethiopia, that proportion is expected to rise even higher in the next five years. The global economy has turned upside down: Europe risks imploding, while much of Africa is booming.
The poverty is heartbreaking and the insecurity ominous. But the giraffes and villagers alike are hugely welcoming, and the progress is now effervescent. The backdrop is a continent that is chipping away at poverty and disease, while doing a better job of educating its young. Africa seems likely to become a much more important part of the global economy in the 21st century — a place to admire, not to pity.
http://www.amazon.com/Facing-Son-Nove...
After a half-century of underperformance, Africa’s economy is growing significantly faster than America’s or Europe’s. In the last decade, 6 of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world were in sub-Saharan Africa, and, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton noted in a recent speech in Ethiopia, that proportion is expected to rise even higher in the next five years. The global economy has turned upside down: Europe risks imploding, while much of Africa is booming.
The poverty is heartbreaking and the insecurity ominous. But the giraffes and villagers alike are hugely welcoming, and the progress is now effervescent. The backdrop is a continent that is chipping away at poverty and disease, while doing a better job of educating its young. Africa seems likely to become a much more important part of the global economy in the 21st century — a place to admire, not to pity.
http://www.amazon.com/Facing-Son-Nove...
July 4, 2011
Freedom Giveaway
What is a Giveaway Hop?
Simple – Each participating blog hosts a giveaway and then links together all followers to hop easily from one giveaway site to another.
For followers this means lots of chances to win free books.
For a free e-copy of Facing the Son, A Novel of Africa, go to Smashwords at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/... and use this code: VG79V. The code expires on July 8.
Thanks for stopping by.
Enjoy the fast-paced journey across West Africa.
Link to the Hop here.
Giveaway Blog List
Simple – Each participating blog hosts a giveaway and then links together all followers to hop easily from one giveaway site to another.
For followers this means lots of chances to win free books.
For a free e-copy of Facing the Son, A Novel of Africa, go to Smashwords at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/... and use this code: VG79V. The code expires on July 8.
Thanks for stopping by.
Enjoy the fast-paced journey across West Africa.
Link to the Hop here.
Giveaway Blog List
June 20, 2011
Why West Africa?
I traveled for my first job to Ivory Coast, Mali, Upper Volta (at the time), Algeria, a bit in Senegal, then later for a different job, in South Africa and Egypt.
The terrors of Amin were underway at the time. Chad was racing toward civil war. Discontent was evident in Niger and Upper Volta. Anger was smoldering on the streets of Algiers. Corruption in the Ivory Coast had rewarded the President's inner circle and left the vast majority struggling to make a living on the streets and in the countryside.
It was a different time than now, 1970′s and 80′s. And despite the seeds of post-colonial discontent beginning to take root, my travels were never disturbed or interrupted. Though I traveled alone much of that time, saw few Americans outside the embassies, I never experienced a single incident of trouble. Just my luck, I suppose. I was unprotected, in cities and out in the bush, on local airlines as well as European ones, in taxis, on foot, with drivers and without, in five-star hotels and in falling down shanties without toilets except for the pits at the edge of town. And not once, other than the frequent stomach bugs which saw me coming from a mile away, was I accosted for my race or nationality.
Interestingly, I was somewhere, I can’t remember where, carrying a copy of the Koran which I was reading as I traveled. The sight of a Yank in a business suit, with a copy of the Book, (the cover title in Arabic, though I read in English), got the most respectful and nearly astonished reactions from Muslims along my route. I entered into unexpected and positive discussions and exchanges springing from a mutual respect for our differences.
The world has lost something in the meantime. State Department advisories recommend that Americans avoid many of these places, especially outside the major cities, and strongly advise not to travel alone.
Why do I set Facing the Son in West Africa? Because as part of my private experience, this area welcomed me kindly and without prejudice. Though I was clearly not from there, no one on any of my trips made me suffer for that simple fact.
West Africa’s economic ”miracle” was already ending at the time of my story. And the situation has become steadily worse for many of the inhabitants of those countries. Corruption was and is endemic. Religious and tribal conflict have increased in savageness and in intensity. But the people prevail as they have over the millennia. The indigent people will always find a way to survive despite the influence of Big Men and the politics of the outside world.
Life in these, some of the world’s poorest, countries is going to remain difficult for a long time to come. But there are always signs of progress among the families who fight on. And where certain NGO’s invest in making life a little easier for one village at a time. These collective efforts by dedicated men and women will make a huge impact on the individual scale. Among and despite the direst endemic problems, small steps toward a better future will continue to be traced in the sand.
I was able to meet with some of those people responsible for this progress. And when I thought about a subject for a book, I thought I’d like to go back to West Africa, to how I experienced it. And place the story there.
The terrors of Amin were underway at the time. Chad was racing toward civil war. Discontent was evident in Niger and Upper Volta. Anger was smoldering on the streets of Algiers. Corruption in the Ivory Coast had rewarded the President's inner circle and left the vast majority struggling to make a living on the streets and in the countryside.
It was a different time than now, 1970′s and 80′s. And despite the seeds of post-colonial discontent beginning to take root, my travels were never disturbed or interrupted. Though I traveled alone much of that time, saw few Americans outside the embassies, I never experienced a single incident of trouble. Just my luck, I suppose. I was unprotected, in cities and out in the bush, on local airlines as well as European ones, in taxis, on foot, with drivers and without, in five-star hotels and in falling down shanties without toilets except for the pits at the edge of town. And not once, other than the frequent stomach bugs which saw me coming from a mile away, was I accosted for my race or nationality.
Interestingly, I was somewhere, I can’t remember where, carrying a copy of the Koran which I was reading as I traveled. The sight of a Yank in a business suit, with a copy of the Book, (the cover title in Arabic, though I read in English), got the most respectful and nearly astonished reactions from Muslims along my route. I entered into unexpected and positive discussions and exchanges springing from a mutual respect for our differences.
The world has lost something in the meantime. State Department advisories recommend that Americans avoid many of these places, especially outside the major cities, and strongly advise not to travel alone.
Why do I set Facing the Son in West Africa? Because as part of my private experience, this area welcomed me kindly and without prejudice. Though I was clearly not from there, no one on any of my trips made me suffer for that simple fact.
West Africa’s economic ”miracle” was already ending at the time of my story. And the situation has become steadily worse for many of the inhabitants of those countries. Corruption was and is endemic. Religious and tribal conflict have increased in savageness and in intensity. But the people prevail as they have over the millennia. The indigent people will always find a way to survive despite the influence of Big Men and the politics of the outside world.
Life in these, some of the world’s poorest, countries is going to remain difficult for a long time to come. But there are always signs of progress among the families who fight on. And where certain NGO’s invest in making life a little easier for one village at a time. These collective efforts by dedicated men and women will make a huge impact on the individual scale. Among and despite the direst endemic problems, small steps toward a better future will continue to be traced in the sand.
I was able to meet with some of those people responsible for this progress. And when I thought about a subject for a book, I thought I’d like to go back to West Africa, to how I experienced it. And place the story there.
