African Arguments: In Africa, does prosperity bring peace?

Friend on Facebook                                                                                    Follow on Twitter                                                                                   Forward to a Friend                                                                                     African Arguments Weekly Briefing African Arguments is the Royal African Society's online discussion site for African current affairs. We will be highlighting the week's top articles so you never miss any great material on African Arguments.                                                                         Film Africa 2013  6 cinemas, 60 African films Film Africa is the Royal African Society’s annual festival celebrating the best African cinema from across the continent. Launched in 2011, Film Africa is now the UK’s largest festival of African film and culture. Find out more  In Africa, does prosperity bring peace?  Lessons from Somalia to Mozambique - By Richard Dowden “In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love – they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.” Was Harry Lime, the evil anti-hero of Graham Greene’s novel The Third Man, right? Does human progress require violence and cruelty to drive it? Some argue that the two world wars generated a huge amount of scientific research that gave us the benefits far quicker than peace would have done. I have always believed (with occasional lapses) that most of Africa’s wars and violent uprisings would produce something better: a more just society, a better understanding between peoples, or a sense of “Never Again” which would drive politicians and communities to make peace, compromise and work together. Read in Full                                                                                     Madagascar elections Remarkable that they have happened at all . The first round of Madagascar’s presidential elections on 25 October was a momentous occasion: the polls were the first since a coup in March 2009 when Andry Rajoelina overthrew President Marc Ravalomanana. That they happened at all is remarkable after so many false starts Read in Full                                                                                     From London to Luanda Review of Daniel Metcalfe’s Blue Dahlia, Black Gold Daniel Metcalfe’s Blue Dahlia, Black Gold imaginatively captures the unfulfilled desires and brute realities of Angola suggested in its title. It is a welcome addition to a growing journalistic and travel literature on the country. Read in Full  follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend  Copyright © 2013 Royal African Society, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website www.africanarguments.org Our mailing address is: Royal African Society 36 Gordon Square London, Eng WC1H 0PD United Kingdom Add us to your address book  unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences