Abiodun Alao Natural Resources and Conflict in Africa the Tragedy of Endowment Rochester Studies in African…From the conclusion: “the tendency to see natural resources either as a “curse” or a “blessing,” or the conflicts emanating from them as being rooted in “scarcity” or “abundance,” is inherently flawed” […] neitherscarcity nor abundance has been a consistent…
Month: September 2011
Blood and soil!? Scarcity and conflict re-revisited
Inspired by the growing body of literature linking natural resource scarcity to conflict, dating back at least to the 1960s but gaining momentum in recent years, Norwegian Ole Magnus Theisen published a review of the statistical literature on this link in 2008. In short, his conclusion was that large scale violence was generally not linked…
Watch ‘The Ambassador’ first chance you get
Mads Brügger – whose last documentary consisted entirely of ultra rare recordings from deep inside North Korea – is releasing a new documentary; this time about corruption in the Central African Republic (CAR). Not posing as a diplomat, but having bribed his way to actual diplomatic immunity, Mads travels to the capital Bangui to set…
As on Helgoland, so in Cambodia
Once upon a time…Forsete, son of Balder and Nanna, grandson of Odin, was a Norse and Frisian god of justice. The isle of Helgoland off the coast of what is now Schleswig-Holstein, Germany was sacred in his name. It was customary to settle disputes of all kinds by arranged battle on islands; the term for this, holmgang,…