Foreign Policy
It succors and drowns human life. And for the last eight years, oil — and the people and places that make it — was my obsession.
September 8, 2009
Across the globe, oil is invoked as an agent of destiny. Oil will make you rich, oil will make you poor, oil will bring ...
Category: Africa
Who’s Africa’s Worst Leader?
Slate
Hint: It’s probably not Robert Mugabe
June 24, 2008
A pop quiz: Who is the worst dictator in Africa?
a) Robert Mugabe
b) Robert Mugabe
c) Robert Mugabe
d) None of the above
The answer seems obvious. Thanks to extensive coverage in the news media and abundant criticism by Western governments, ...
Road to Hell
The New Republic
Dispatch from the Niger Delta
January 31, 2005
A cheery sign at the waterfront of Elem Sangama says “Sea Side Lane,” and, on first glance, the village seems a bright spot in the otherwise unpleasant Niger Delta. In addition to its paved walkways, Sangama ...
A Touch of Crude
Mother Jones
How the pursuit of oil is propping up the West African dictatorship of Teodoro Obiang.
January 2005
The red dirt of the jungle meets a paved road on the outskirts of Ebebiyin, where a national celebration is about to begin. Women are singing and swaying in an African rhythm that ...
Ayn Rand Comes to Somalia
The Atlantic
In the absence of government bureaucracy and foreign aid, business is starting to boom in Mogadishu.
May 2001
The headquarters of Telecom Somalia is filled with the sights and sounds of Mogadishu-style success. Customers pour through the entrance, funneling past machine-gun ...
Death and Taxis
The Washington Post
This House Has Fallen: Midnight in Nigeria. By Karl Maier
December 24, 2000
By Karl Maier
Public Affairs. 327 pp. $26
Reviewed by Peter Maass
A book that begins with a taxi story usually begins colorfully. Karl Maier opens This House Has Fallen with a wild brawl that broke out when ...
The Accidental Warlord
Talk
Hussein Aideed was counting potholes in Southern California when he was drafted to replace his father as leader of one of Somalia’s most feared militias. As Aideed is learning, life as a tribal chieftain isn’t what it used to be.
December 2000
It is nearly lunchtime, and the phone rings.
A ...
Mogadishu Dispatch
The New Republic
Tennis helps bring Somalia’s dead capital back to life.
October 2, 2000
The tennis courts at Casa d’Italia, a country club in Mogadishu, have nourished several generations of players. First, there were the Italians who built the club and who controlled ...
Deadly Competition
Brill’s Content
As demand for war footage to air on the network news heats up, more journalists are taking chances in dangerous situations — and for two of them, the risks proved fatal.
September 2000
Unlike the wild weeks that preceded it, May 24 seemed destined to be a slow ...
The Horror
The Washington Post
Me Against My Brother: At War in Somalia, Sudan, and Rwanda. By Scott Peterson
August 27, 2000
At War in Somalia, Sudan, and Rwanda
By Scott Peterson
Routledge.
357 pp. $26
Reviewed by Peter Maass
Africa is an expression of vastness. It is a matter not just of size but of drama and ...