Sunday Reading Assignment

Two more articles worth reading:

On Barack Obama in the NY Review of Books.

On China in Africa (see my earlier post here on the recent China-Africa summit).

A note about the second article: the role of China in Africa should not be ignored. As I've said, the West has basically written off Africa, continuing to use it as a dumping ground for weapons and toxic waste. A friend at the IMF once told me that, within the culture of the IMF, Africa was seen as a loser division. That is, if you were a crappy economist, you would be assigned to the African division. IMF people preferred the cush positions. I asked why a continent with so many needs wouldn't be at the top of the list, the top priority. No answer. There, in a nutshell, is the culture of the IMF. But there, also in a nutshell, is the West's treatment of Africa.

China is hardly a darling, but they are in a position for completely rewriting the script about the relations between industrialized nations and Africa. I think they realize this and - despite Traub's general take in the Times article that China-Africa is about the same old resource exploitation - there is much more to the story. I don't mean this merely in terms of the geopolitics of resources, but in terms of the potential for changing the political face of Africa itself. Everyone should be watching.