‘Not Everybody Loves Swedes and Maybe There are Some People with Other Values’: William Reno speaks on Somalia and does a Kick-ass Job of Holding a Mug at SAIS

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Afghanistan, al-Shabab, Erica Chenoweth, Ethiopia bad neighborhood, Gabon monarchy, Hizbul Islam, Marc Aubriere, Mogadishu, Northwestern University, questions, SAIS, Somalia, Somalia coffee, Togo monarchy, Uganda monarchy, William Reno

Yesterday I heard William Reno, Professor of Political Science and Director of the African Studies Program at Northwestern (the country’s oldest) speak on ‘Rethinking State-Building in Muslim-Majority States: Grounded View From Somalia.’  I was vaguely familiar with Reno from his work on Sierra Leone in the 90’s which I briefly encountered as a student about a decade later.  He remains focused on security issues on the continent and appears to have shifted his focus from resource conflicts in west Africa to network conflicts in the Horn of Africa.  He got a bit theoretical at times and my mind wandered (I was a bit out of my element despite having attended another recent area event on Somalia security), but my main takeaways were thus:

Upcoming SAIS Events – PSA

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Paul Lubeck, SAIS

Today I attended my first SAIS African Studies Program lecture of the semester – my post will be up tomorrow.  In introducing the speaker, SAIS professor Paul Lubeck made reference to a few upcoming events.  He noted that a British scholar will be coming by to speak on Nigeria’s Middle Belt and that a Nigerian would speak at a separate event on ecumenical relations in his country.  He added that SAIS’ major conference on Africa for the semester would examine growth on the continent with particular interest to the challenges of making that growth inclusive.

I’m looking forward to SAIS’ academic semester getting in gear again, although I am no longer employed in the vicinity of Dupont Circle which may reduce my ability to get to SAIS events.

Antoinette Sayeh, IMF Africa Head at SAIS: ‘The Region is Catching Up’

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African agriculture, African governance, Antoinette Sayeh, Burkina Faso, Deborah Brautigam, IMF, Infrastructure in Africa, Liberia, SAIS, Shanta Devarajan, Uganda, World Bank

The last time I heard the head of the Africa division of a global financial institution speak on Massachusetts Avenue (Shanta Devarajan of the World Bank at Brookings), I was thoroughly displeased.  Yesterday, I heard Antoinette Sayeh, former Finance Minister of Liberia and currently the Director of the Africa Department at the IMF speak on “Drivers of Growth in Middle and Low-income sub-Saharan Africa.”  Although one can almost always find a bone to pick (keep reading for what it was this time), on the whole, I found her macro-economically focused remarks to hit most of the notes I would like to hear.

Winslow Robertson on Two Triangles of the DC China – Africa Triforce

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China - Africa, Deborah Brautigam, SAIS, Sino - Africa, Yoon Jung Park

Readers will likely know of the indefatigable Winslow Robertson, the coordinator of the very useful Sino-Africa DC group (even if just because I’ve cross-posted some  work from his blog, Cowries and Rice before).

Earlier this month, Winslow attended a not too well publicized event with two local giants of the China – Africa scholarly scene: Deborah Brautigam of SAIS and Yoon Jung Park (who I’ve previously covered) at SAIS.

You can read Winslow’s take on the event here.  Winslow is extremely dynamic and active on Twitter, providing lots of useful analysis and insights to his followers, whose numbers vastly dwarf mine (perhaps I need to start live tweeting).  Get in on the action @Winslow_R.

I’m very curious to know more about what makes this China – Africa devotee tick and hope to publish a profile on him on these pages before the year is out (I have recently gotten away from doing the profiles, which I found to be very rewarding).

SAIS Tackles Urbanization in Abuja

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Abuja, Africa land tenure, Boko Haram, Carl Levan, FEDUP, Jos, Josiah Olubowale, Nigeria, SAIS, Trinidad

Sitting from L: Olubowale and LeVan

Yesterday I popped in for the first hour of a 90 minute discussion at SAIS titled “I Am Here Until Development Comes*: Displacement, Demolitions and Property Rights in Urbanizing Abuja” with Carl Levan of American University and Josiah Olubowale, a Nigerian and soon to be graduate of the University of the West Indies, Trinidad.

I have never been to Nigeria and know nothing about property rights, so I was very much out of my element here.  I do not believe that I was completely alone in this regard. 

Bruce Whitehouse at SAIS on Mali’s Elections, the Future of Captain Sanogo, and More

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Amadou Sanogo, Amadou Toumani Touré, Azawad, Bamako, Bruce Whitehouse, democracy in Africa, Mali, Peter Lewis, SAIS, Todd Moss, Tuareg, US military engagement in Mali

Today, I was able to hear the Lehigh anthropologist Bruce Whitehouse speak for the second time since I started blogging.  Dr. Lewis of SAIS’ Africa Studies Program noted in his introduction that he was ‘delighted to welcome’ Dr. Whitehouse.  I second that comment, as I greatly appreciate the nuances, specific info, and multiple perspectives that Dr. Whitehouse brings forward in his speeches as well as on his blog (which is much more sophisticated than mine but rather infrequently updated these days).