Harvard Business Review: Out of Africa – Justin Fox reviews several newly released books about Africa, including Roger Thurow’s The Last Hunger Season. Fox notes that after years of “filling bookshelves with big-picture polemics about what’s wrong” with Africa – and “what’s wrong with Western attempts to fix it” – several books this year offer more positive economic portrayals of the continent. Publishers are beginning to recognize the emergence of an African business literature, especially as many Western philanthropists respond to the criticism that past charity in Africa “merely fostered dependence. (Justin Fox)
Financial Times: China’s world – In Restless Empire, a new book by Odd Arne Westad, a professor of international history at the London School of Economics, argues that we should root any understanding of Chinese foreign policy in a “history of the nation’s relationship with the rest of the world.” China and Africa, a new book by David Shinn and Joshua Eisenman, addresses the burgeoning Chinese relationship with Africa. (Gideon Rachman)
The Economist: Mali: Terror in the Sahara – The precarious state of Mali in recent weeks has been heavily watched by western allies, who worry that the country may soon slip into a breeding ground for terrorism and al-Qaeda forces. As to how to intervene correctly is still of much argument, and with time running out, as to whether or not the right decision can be made in time is still to be seen.
FT: Pro Bono: How rockers change the world – Celebrities rarely challenge us to think about the world. But when they do, they occasionally have the opportunity to change the world. When Bob Geldof and Bono challenged the world years ago to think about Africa in a new way, they were able to inspire an entire generation to look to the future for solutions to the world’s problems. (Peter Aspden)
