Nigeria on The Huffington Post

Jim Luce: Itzhak Perlman to Perform at Lincoln Center to Help Rotary Eradicate Polio

2009-11-14T17:05:13Z

"Polio is only a plane ride away."

So began my sobering
interview with Carol Pandak, Manager of PolioPlus
for Rotary International about polio, a crippling and potentially fatal
disease that still threatens children in Africa and Asia (video).

People in 125 countries
had polio in 1985 – today only four.
Good news, no? But the four
countries – Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan – constitute nearly one-quarter
of the world’s population.

One ray of hope is that
Rotary International continues to battle polio, working alongside UNICEF, the
World Health Organization (WHO) and the Gates Foundation. The global eradication of polio is Rotary’s
top priority.

On Dec. 2, Carol told
me, Itzhak Perlman will perform at Lincoln Center, New York City, in a benefit
concert of Rotary International’s efforts to eradicate polio – the Concert to End Polio.

Itzhak Perlman, the Israeli-American
violin virtuoso, conductor, and instructor, is widely considered as one of the
preeminent violin virtuosi of the 20th century.
He has often played with the New York Philharmonic, although not for the
last four years.

Itzhak Perlman will be featured at the Concert to End Polio in New York City December 2.

Before writing this
article, I did not know that Itzhak Perlman, the virtuoso violinist, is himself
a polio survivor. Today, he generally uses
crutches or an electric wheelchair for mobility and plays the violin while
seated.

Perlman will perform
with the New York Philharmonic at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts,
Avery Fisher Hall, in New York City, on Wednesday, 2 December, at 7:30 pm. View the concert program.
Tickets may be purchased online through the Philharmonic.

Rotarians tackle “the last few, the
hardest to get,” says volunteer Charlene Hall, as they go door-to-door with the polio vaccine. Moradabad, India. Credit: IPTC/Alyce Henson. © Rotary International.

Carol explained that since
1985, Rotary club members worldwide have contributed more than $800 million and
countless volunteer hours to the effort.
Rotary is now working to raise an additional $200 million to fulfill its
commitment for a $355 million challenge grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation.

Polio is terrible. It is a life-time affliction from which
people cannot regain the use of their limbs – or even spine. It usually hits children under the age of
five. In some cases, paralysis can be
overcome, but with post-polio syndrome, the body weakens again later.

There are three historic
strains of polio. One has already been eradicated,
and a potent new vaccine is about to be unleashed, called a Bivalent oral polio
vaccine (bOPV), that specifically targets the other two strains. This drug, to be launched in India and
Nigeria in the coming months, is poised to accelerate progress towards a
polio-free world.

Until now, health
officials would push one vaccine, and the other strain would strengthen, and
then vice-versa, causing a ping-pong effect.

Rotarians visit the Panacea Biotec
factory, where some of the oral polio vaccine
provided to India is manufactured. Creator: IPTC/Alyce
Henson. © Rotary International.

Uttar Pradesh, a state
in northern India where polio transmission has never been interrupted, is the
size of Texas – with a population the size of the U.S. Think about that. Half a million babies born each month.

Nigeria and Pakistan, each
approximately twice the size of California, have populations of 150-170,000 million
each – more than half the population of the U.S.

I have learned that
polio cases can be considered in two categories: those that are naturally
occurring, and those that are imported from other regions. Only India, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan
have naturally occurring polio. It is
endemic in those nations.

The Americas, Europe and
the Western Pacific have already successfully eradicated polio. A certificate of eradication is issued
following three years without the virus.
Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Eastern Mediterranean are still considered
to be at risk.

Great progress has been made, and the incidence of
paralytic polio infection has plunged worldwide from 350,000 cases in 1988 to
fewer than 2,000 in 2008.

A child receives the polio vaccine at a
booth inside the Maisthan Temple in Birgunj, Nepal,

during Subnational Immunization Day rounds. Creator: EXIF/Alyce Henson. © Rotary International.

No one can predict when
exactly polio will be defeated, but beginning in January 2010, the Global Polio
Eradication Initiative will launch its three-year program, which – if the milestones along the way are met – would
achieve the interruption in the transmission of the wild polio virus.

Cultural factors also
have played a role in hindering prevention efforts. In Muslim communities some believe that the
vaccine could hamper fertility in boys.

Children smile during a visit from
Rotarians who worked through a children's
center outside Lucknow, India, during door-to-door polio immunization effort.
Creator: IPTC/Rajesh Kumar Singh. ©
Rotary International.

Bearing in mind that the
four remaining nations with polio are Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and
Afghanistan, Rotary’s strategy to engage Islamic clerics to help deliver the
vaccine message to their congregants hits the mark.

Overseeing the state’s
effort to end polio in one Indian state is the Ulema Council for Polio
Eradication, established by Rotary International. Ulemas are leading Muslim experts in Islamic
law.

Muslim clerics receive a
booklet published by India’s National PolioPlus Committee, which links polio
immunization to the duties of parents as explained in the Quran. See Rotary Foundation story.

Rotary International, made up of service clubs located all over
the world, is a secular organization open to all persons regardless of race,
color, creed, or political preference.

Rotarians gather as business and professional leaders to provide
humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and
help build goodwill and peace in the world.

As the world’s first
service club organization, Rotary began as an idea 104 years ago. Today, Rotary
flourishes worldwide with 1.2 million members in more than 200 countries and
geographical areas.

I personally have
visited and spoken at Rotary clubs in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. I am looking forward to hearing Itzhak
Perlman perform at the Concert
to End Polio. I too dream that polio
will be wiped from this plant for the sake of the world’s children.

To learn more about polio eradication, visit the Rotary End Polio or Polio Eradication websites. Also, I recommend you see the video from Rotary International President John Kenny. If you can't attend the concert, you can still donate online. View Polio Eradication background sheets by country.

Edited
by Karen F. Dimanche Davis.

Jim Luce: NBC's Brian Williams: Changing the World for the Better

2009-11-13T16:39:22Z

Several weeks ago Brian
Williams profiled the children of the Afghan Child Education and Care
Organization (AFCECO) and its founder Andeisha Farid in Kabul, Afghanistan for NBC Nightly News’ segment Making a Difference (video).

Brian is anchor and
managing editor of the NBC Nightly News
based in New York. Last week, his show, including
the segment Making a Difference, had
9.5 million viewers. The show spikes up
to 11 million viewers frequently.

I had interviewed the
orphanage’s founder Andeisha of Kabul in New York in September and have followed
her progress carefully. I knew immediately
that Brian’s focus would have an enormous impact on her good work.

As founder of Orphans International Worldwide, I am familiar
with running homes for children around the world – and the difficult task of
raising the fund necessary to do so.

What I did not grasp
about the piece on Making a Difference was
what an enormous difference it would
make – with so many contributions that flooded over the Internet to fund the
kids there from Brian’s generous viewers.
He thanked them the following week (video).

I wanted to speak with
Brian about how good that must make him feel – and how this sense of
responsibility must now shape his life – so I asked him to call me, and he did. Brian told me:

I was
really revved to do a piece on this orphanage in Afghanistan. I wanted it to be seen by as many people as
possible – and luckily it was. I was so
grateful – we raised much more for those children than we had thought possible.

I do
pieces on different topics. We were in
Kabul when there was a huge loss of life at the U.N. and I wanted to do a story
after that which was ‘nice and hopeful.’
We had one day to do this feature piece, and it all just came together.

Sitting
there in our rental house in Kabul, I realized I had a personal enough relationship
with our viewers – who I felt could be very generous – to ask them to help
these kids. And they did!

The
cultural differences and similarities in the orphanage were enormous. Little girls are little girls anywhere in the
world. Thank God I have parented two
children, so it was the most natural of moments.

Switching
glasses with them, seeing them draw stars and hearts… The children were so tactile, kind, loving,
affectionate, and gracious.

I saw a
picture of Paul Stevers there on the wall, the founder of CharityHelp International
in the U.S. that provides a bridge between child sponsors and the children
there.

The kids
had a politeness, and order, a discipline – not like in Annie, but an attitude of accepting real responsibility – the way I
was raised. It was so real.

On his blog, Brian had
posted the following after his viewers had been so generous:

I want to
say thank you -- and to express my ongoing appreciation at the amazing
generosity of our viewers. We did a
follow-up on the orphanage in Afghanistan.

I was only
home from work for a few hours when we learned they had already received 500
e-mails from Nightly News viewers -- many of them offering donations and
pledges to sponsor a child.

It is
immensely gratifying, and I’m beyond words in expressing my thanks and appreciation
on behalf of the lovely children we met over there.

Brian Williams received individualized cards
from each of the children in Kabul.

“Although some are
one-time gifts, our experience tells us that many of the child sponsors will
continue to give for the next few years so the benefits of Brian’s efforts are
very substantial and will enable AFCECO to care for many more children,” Paul
Stevers, founder of CharityHelp
International, told me.

CharityHelp
International is the Internet bridge that connects the children to child
sponsors around the world. Orphans
International Worldwide, the charity I founded, relies on CharityHelp to fund
our kids in Haiti, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka.

“Security is an enormous
issue in Kabul,” Brian told me. “In
Kabul, importance is measured by the size of your gate and the number of guns
you have. I hope the orphanage there will
be able to spend more on security,” Brian added.

Clearly, the segment Making a Difference is making a
difference. From one night a week, the
segment now airs up to five times a week.

“It was my wife’s idea,
honestly,” Brian shared. “With the
economy sinking, she said, ‘Someone, somewhere is doing spectacular acts of
kindness – go capture them!’ And we
did,” Brian told me.

Making a Difference features mostly ordinary people, although it
has begun to also focus on celebrities using their visibility to also help
humanity.

Quintessential thought leaders
and global citizen Brian Williams on the streets of Kabul.

Brian replaced Tom
Brokaw, one of his mentors, in 2004. Previously,
Brian was the network’s chief White House correspondent and host of The News with Brian Williams on CNBC and
MSNBC.

After studying at
college, Brian took an internship with the administration of President Jimmy
Carter. He holds an honorary doctor of
humane letters degree from one of my favorite schools, Bates College, and an
honorary Doctor of Journalism degree from Ohio State University.

NBC Night News anchor Brian Williams
frequently reports from Afghanistan.

Brian is the most
honored network evening news anchor. He
has received four Edward R. Murrow awards, his fifth Emmy award, the
DuPont-Columbia University award and the industry's highest honor, the George
Foster Peabody award.

Most were given for his
work in New Orleans while covering Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, and all
were awarded to Brian in only his second year on the job.

Brian Williams of NBC Nightly
News with Afghani children in Kabul.

Brian was the first and
only network evening news anchor to report from New Orleans before Hurricane
Katrina hit and was the only network news anchor to report from the Superdome
during the storm. He remained in New Orleans to report on the aftermath and
destruction of Hurricane Katrina.

In 2006, Brian joined
Bono, traveling to three countries in Africa — Nigeria, Mali, and Ghana — to
report on the major issues facing the continent, including HIV/AIDS, poverty,
disease, and crushing debt.

In 1994, Brian was named
NBC News Chief White House correspondent. Accompanying President Clinton aboard
Air Force One, Brian circled the world several times, covering virtually every
foreign and domestic trip by the President until 1996.

On perhaps one of the
most historic trips of the Clinton presidency, Brian was the only television
news correspondent to accompany three U.S. presidents — Clinton, Bush, and
Carter — to Yitzhak Rabin's funeral in Israel.

Brian is a member of the
Council on Foreign Relations in New York, and is also a member of the Board of
Directors of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. He has lectured at Columbia University School
of Journalism and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Austin,
Texas.

In 2007, Brian was
listed among Time Magazine’s 100 Most
Influential People in The World. He
lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, with his wife, Jane Stoddard Williams.

There is a reason “When
breaking news happens, America turns to NBC
Nightly News with Brian Williams."
America trusts Brian the way we once trusted Walter Cronkite.

“Walter Cronkite was the
architect for what this show has become,” Brian told me. “Walter’s level of professionalism is what I
strive for every day.”

“I have been luckier
than most two have had two North Stars to follow – Walter Cronkite and Tom
Brokaw,” Brian admitted.

Like Walter and Tom, Brian
is the quintessential thought leaders and global citizen – and has thousands of
fans on Facebook
from around the world to prove it.

Today Brian Williams has
an enormous power – and a parallel responsibility – to help humanity.

Luckily for all of us, he
knows this well – and is highly focused on doing all that he can in his
position to change our world for the better.

Stephen Worgu, Nigerian Soccer Star, Sentenced To Flogging In Sudan

2009-11-11T13:09:40Z

The Nigerian star Stephen Worgu, who plays in Sudan, has been convicted of drinking alcohol, and has been sentenced to be flogged.

Derek Beres: Why Kanye West Could Never Be Fela Kuti

2009-11-11T10:42:44Z

While Kanye West's admitted disdain for books is well known, I reflected on his recent comments while at the Eugene O'Neill Theater watching Fela!, the Bill T Jones production based on the life of Nigerian singer and political activist Fela Kuti. Last year I was blown away by the off-Broadway performance, and while some of the themes were toned down -- "made for Broadway" -- this is still an experience I'd recommend to anyone, and demand of my friends. Along with Passing Strange, Fela! offers one hope that Broadway still presents politically, socially, and spiritually progressive theater void of the Disneyfied clichés trademark to the industry.

I remember sitting at 37 Arts during the heat of the presidential election over a year ago, with Fela's double fisted cry for becoming the "black president" of Nigeria via his self-created MOP (Movement of the People) party resonated with an American audience thirsty for the same. That line did not get as much excitement this time around, partly because time calms enthusiasm, partly due to the fact that in this more public context, Broadway, many were just being introduced to this man. "Black President" was thematic throughout Fela's career, and while the reigning political parties shut him numerously -- he appeared in court over 200 times in his life--he never stopped labeling himself as king.

A pivotal scene in the performance occurred when Fela lived in America for ten months in the late '60s. This is after medical school in London (the only way he could trick his parents into sending him abroad to study music), while Fela was still under the spell of the "other," in this context meaning foreign cultures being viewed as utopias by the foreign eye. It was African-Americans that really inspired Fela to return to his homeland to rage the political battle, as he felt his peers had been too complacent in dealing with the government in Lagos. One-quarter of Africans live in Nigeria, and the country isn't that large. Fela had assumed the general apathetic outlook; after reading numerous books and talking with Americans, his path was set.

This is represented in a great dance scene, with his Queens marching around Fela, handing him books by Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis, and his personal hero, Malcolm X (political hero; his musical god was James Brown). While residing in Los Angeles, he read the man's autobiography over and over (as told to Alex Haley), later including him among the Orishas on his altar in his now-mythic club, the Shrine. This brief homage to the written word worked wonderfully: Fela carrying a stack of books, the Queens and male dancers performing a magnificent number while flipping pages, learning, sharing, communing, uniting, with the rhythm of "Originality/Yellow Fever" keeping the audience bouncing along to the beat.

Funnily enough, I did not notice Kanye's new book, Thank You and You're Welcome, in that bunch. Somehow the 52-page collection of "Kanye-isms" just didn't match up to X's illuminating life history. In Kanye's words:

"Sometimes people write novels and they just be so wordy and so self-absorbed. I am not a fan of books. I would never want a book's autograph. I am a proud non-reader of books. I like to get information from doing stuff like actually talking to people and living real life."

That books cannot autograph anything -- authors do -- should not surprise us coming from a man who could not even write 52 pages himself; his co-writer (read: writer) did. To be fair, I know plenty of people who do not read books. As a writer of them, it's disheartening, but there are forms of both entertainment and education that I do not partake in. My friends do not, however, write books and then make a mockery of people who do so for a living. As any writer worth his or her weight will tell you, writing is an occupation, true, but that is not what drives them. A writer writes because there is no other choice. One could also say the same of a music producer, but when said producer merely recycles the same beat and style over the span of his "career," it gets difficult to distinguish where the art is. In writing, we call that recycling, and in this case that does not denote something worthwhile. It is, unfortunately, something that makes money for the recyclers, thus making it a popular pastime.

Which is why Jones's retelling of Fela's life is so refreshing, the way he and co-writer (read: actual co-writer) Jim Lewis portray how the lyrics of this Afrobeat star pull directly from his life, one filled with turmoil and despair--"real life," we can call it. Lesser man would have collapsed. Fela never wavered, even after his mother, Funmilayo (played by Lillias White), is murdered by the Nigerian government, even after many of his Queens were raped and tortured in his home compound, the Kalakuta Republic.

Given the rigorous nature of the performance, for the Broadway run, Fela is played by two men. For the show I attended, it was Kevin Mambo; previously, I watched Sahr Ngaujah. A recent New Yorker article, "Talk This Way," peers in on the career of dialect coach Tim Monich, who has worked with hundreds of actors over the past two decades, teaching them (or as Munich might say, letting them teach themselves) about regional tongues. Monich points out how important it is for an actor to learn how to speak local dialects for their career. Mambo wears the role of Fela like a fitted suit; Ngaujah wore it like skin. After the show, you leave thinking of Mambo, "he played the role of Fela very well." My thought after seeing Ngaujah was, "that was Fela." To his credit, Mambo is very new to this role, and I could only imagine he may make the transition from suit to skin over time.

Returning home from Broadway, I watched Music is the Weapon, the 1982 documentary shot in the Kalakuta Republic. Jones captured the imagery from the time brilliantly. Being a staged production, his dancers blew away anything you'd see in Lagos thirty years ago. His dancers glistened, each muscularly defined and rhythmically astute, making it a visual feast as much as oral narrative. The two main female singers--White playing Fela's mother, who struck the theater silent with her rendition of "Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am" as well as a new song, "Rain," and Sandra (Saycon Sengbloh) countering Fela on "Water No Get Enemy"--were endearing and intimate, and Ismael Kouyate's treatment of traditional African melodies was heartbreaking. As with the original, the Brooklyn-based band Antibalas (well, mostly Antibalas; some musicians were added), who most would argue single-handedly started the resurgence of Fela's music in America, played the music live. Top moments: "Zombie," "Water No Get Enemy," Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am," "Sorrow Tears and Blood," and "Coffin For Head of State."

That said, the only disappointments in the transition off and onto Broadway involved the toning down of certain political issues, and the atmosphere that created these issues. The show was made more palatable for Broadway audiences, which inevitably includes Midwesterners that happened to pick up a brochure in Times Square. Fela married 27 Queens (his dancers and many loves) in one ceremony. The off-Broadway production was true to that; this one counted only nine, and briefly glossed the fact. The invasion of the Republic was toned down, as was the psychedelic scene when Fela communes with the Orishas. As a friend, a man much more knowledgeable of theater than myself (and with a much better memory), commented, the dancing was "less modern" and more "neo-African." Recalling the fact, I whole-heartedly agree, not that this is necessarily a bad thing. Just a little less imaginative. Given that the show is still in previews, things could change before the actual opening date.

The biggest problem with such a toning down is that it takes the audience out of the real and into fantasy. The imagination is already largely at play with the production's spectacular lighting effects and theatrical performance. It also removes us in time and space. True, there are moments that ground us in modern day America: the notion of the black president; one of the many coffins decorating the stage written out to "Sean Bell"; AIG being included with WTO and IMF and other organizations accountable for the Nigerian code for fraud, 419. A few months ago, however, the Shrine in Lagos was shut down yet again by the government, thanks to Fela's son, Femi, speaking out against poverty and the lack of assistance in the very space his father made his pulpit until his death of AIDS in 1997. Sometimes hinting at problems is not the same as actually addressing them. Jones did a wonderful job at knocking the audience out off-Broadway. Here, he jabs hard, without the right hook. Again, the fact that he's able to do so on Broadway makes the experience worthwhile for everyone, if nothing more than to expose a new audience to one of the most important musicians of the twentieth century.

Amb. John Campbell: Nigeria: Progress Toward the Rule of Law?

2009-11-04T10:37:24Z

The arrest, conviction and jailing of ruling party chieftain Olabode George for corruption is good news for a country that is a by-word for poor governance. It signals the higher court's increasing independence from the "big men" who wield political and economic power. It may also restore some credibility to Nigeria's tarnished Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the chief anti-corruption agency, at a time when it is widely criticized for backing away from prosecution of the country's corrupt oligarchy.

No other major political figure has been convicted of corruption and jailed during the current presidential administration of Umaru Yar'adua, who made the rule of law a center piece of his administration's rhetoric. Yar'adua's critics note that others as notorious as George have not been charged and are concerned that prosecution for corruption remains half-hearted and politically motivated. Nevertheless, the sight of a powerful political figure being led away to jail without the usual option of paying a fine is bound to have a salutary, even if only temporary, impact on Nigeria's corrupt political culture.

Olabode George is representative of the "big men" who have dominated Nigerian governance, whether under military or civilian rule, since independence. A retired admiral, he was a close political ally of General Olusegun Obasanjo, military dictator of Nigeria from 1976-79 and civilian president from 1999-2007. Under the Obasanjo civilian presidency, George was the chairman of the ruling People's Democratic Party. Obasanjo also appointed him to chair the board of directors of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), a notorious venue for corruption. According to the courts, George and his NPA colleagues proceeded to exploit it for personal gain from 2001-2003.

In 2005, the EFCC, established by Obasanjo as the center-piece of his anti-corruption campaign, initiated an investigation of George's tenure at the Ports Authority. However, executive chairman Nuhu Ribadu's perceived independence from the president's political agenda led to his firing in 2008, causing consternation among international donors, such as the United States. The case, nevertheless, was continued by Ribadu's successor, Farida Waziri. Last month, George was convicted by Judge Olubunmi Oyewole of the Lagos High Court and sentenced to 30 months in prison without the option of paying a fine in lieu of jail time. Subsequently, Judge Oyewole also denied George's application for bail while he appeals. Accordingly, George is now incarcerated in Lagos's notorious Kirikiri prison.

Under Obasanjo, such a powerful political ally of the president would have had little fear of conviction, and virtually no fear that he would face jail time. Hence, George's imprisonment appears to be a step forward toward the rule of law in Nigeria.

The caveat, as some Nigerians note, may be that President Yar'adua and former President Obasanjo are drifting apart, which has led to speculation that George's imprisonment may also be part of a political skirmish between the current and former chiefs of state or their respective entourages. They note that former governors James Ibori and Peter Odili, who have escaped prosecution, are current political allies of Yar'adua. To dispel these rumors and to move the country toward a greater respect for the rule of law, George's jailing must be followed by further credible prosecutions and convictions to win public confidence in President Yar'adua's commitment to anti-corruption.

Antonia Juhasz: Chevron Gets Fixed

2009-11-03T21:45:54Z

On Sunday, Chevron became the first oil company to come under a Yes Men Audience Attack.

(See Video, Photos, and Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum's Blog of event)

Chevron was chosen because Chevron is different from other oil companies.

It is bigger than all but three (only ExxonMobil, BP and Shell are larger). It is facing the largest potential corporate liability in history ($27 billion) for causing the world's largest oil spill in the Ecuadorian rainforest. It is the only major U.S. Corporation still operating in Burma and, with its partner Total Oil Corp., is the single largest financial contributor to the Burmese government. It is the dominant private oil producer in both Angola and Kazakhstan, with operations in both countries mired in human rights and environmental abuses. It is the only major oil company to be tried in a U.S. court on charges of mass human rights abuse, including summary execution and torture (for its operations in Nigeria).

It is the only oil company to hire one of the Bush Administration's "torture memo" lawyers (William J. Haynes). It is the largest and most powerful corporation in California, where it is currently being sued for conspiring to fix gasoline prices. It has led the fight to keep California as the only major oil producing state that does not tax oil when it is pumped from the ground, thereby denying the state an extra $1.5 billion annually. It is the largest industrial polluter in the Bay Area and is among the largest single corporate contributors to climate change on the planet.

Chevron is also the focus of one of the world's most unique and well-organized corporate resistance campaigns.

That campaign got a jolt of energy when Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum came to San Francisco on Halloween weekend for a special screening of The Yes Men Fix the World.

Global Exchange and I teamed up with Andy (the movie's co-writer, director, and producer) and a host of the Bay Areas most creative activists, to lead an entire movie audience out of the theater, into the streets, and in protest of Chevron.

We spread the word early, far, and wide: The Yes Men are coming! The Yes Men are coming! They will not only fix the world, they will fix Chevron too!

Larry Bogad, a Yes Man co-hort and professor of Guerilla Theater, helped concoct a masterful street theater scenario. A crack team of protest and street theater organizers was compiled, including David Solnit of the Mobilization for Climate Justice and Rae Abileah of Code Pink. Rock The Bike signed on and the word kept spreading.

On Sunday, the Roxie Theater in San Francisco's Mission District was filled beyond capacity with an audience that came ready to protest. They laughed, clapped, booed, and cheered along with the film. When the movie ended, Andy answered questions, I talked about Chevron, and Larry laid out the protest scenario.

Three Chevron executives, protected from the early ravages of climate change in SurvivaBalls, were dragged up the street by dozens of Chevron minions with nothing but haz-mat suits to protect them. Those unable to afford any protection (i.e. The Dead) followed close behind. Next came resistance: the Chevron street sweepers, actively cleaning up Chevron's messes who were followed by the protesters, ready to change the story.

We didn't have a permit, but we took a lane of traffic on 16th street anyway. The police first tried to intervene, then they "joined in," blocking traffic on our way to Market and Castro.

As we marched and the music blared, people literally came out of their houses and off of the streets to join in. Passersby eagerly took postcards detailing Chevron's corporate crimes.

Once we arrived at the gas station, I welcomed everyone and explained that we were at an independent Chevron (as opposed to corporate) station, whose owner (whom I'd been speaking with regularly) had his own list of grievances with his corporate boss. The particular station was not our target of protest, but rather, the Chevron Corporation itself.

Larry and Andy than led the entire crowd in a series of Tableaux Morts. The Chevron executives in their SurvivaBalls drained the lifeblood from the masses. The people began to rebel, forcing the SurvivaBalls into the "turtle" position to fend off the attacks. Ultimately, the separate groups saw their common purpose in resisting Chevron's abuses. The dead rose, the Chevron minions rebelled, and the sweepers and protesters joined together. They all chased the Chevron executives off into the distance, and then danced in the streets, rejoicing in their shared victory!

The Chevron Program I direct at Global Exchange seeks to unite Chevron affected communities across the United States and around the world. By uniting these communities, we build strength from each other, and become a movement. By expanding, strengthening, and highlighting this movement, we bring in more allies and create a powerful advocacy base for real policy change. Those changes will reign in Chevron, and by extension, the entire oil industry. And, by raising the voices of those hardest hit by the true cost of oil and exposing how we all ultimately pay the price, we help move the world more rapidly away from oil as an energy resource altogether.

Nigeria Aims To Put Africans In Space

2009-10-30T10:37:48Z

LONDON, U.K. - Recently I received an email labeled "Strictly Confidential" from Dr. Bakare Tunde, who said he was astronautics project manager at Nigeria's space agency. He also told me he was the cousin of the first African in space, Air Force Major Abacha Tunde, and that this poor intrepid astronaut had been stranded on a secret Soviet military station ever since the Soviet Union dissolved in 1990.

Betwa Sharma: No Toilets or Air For "Forgotten Prisoners"

2009-10-29T17:45:38Z

Prison conditions worldwide are worse than the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture could have imagined. So he said, while presenting his latest findings from detention centers in different regions. Jails without air, toilets and food are not rare.

The UN produces a steady stream of reports every year that are judiciously discussed and web-linked. Occasionally, some of these studies before being archived, invite a raised eyebrow.

In Equatorial Guinea, Rapporteur Manfred Nowak reveals that the government does not provide food and water to the prisoners who must wait for their families to bring water in plastic bottles and food in plastic bags.

Since there are no toilets, prisoners use the same bottles to urinate and the plastic bags to defecate. In most police stations, including the police headquarters in the capital Malabo, tons of filled and stinking plastic bottles and bags had been thrown through the bars to the corridors and open yards.

The government of Equatorial Guinea has rejected the report. “So many countries are not living up to their obligations to respect the basic dignity of human beings in detention,” says Nowak.

In prisons little bit outside of Montevideo in Uruguay, detainees used the water in the toilets for drinking. The sewage system does not work so inmates use plastic bags for defecation, which they later throw outside.

In Uruguay, hundreds of convicts and pretrial detainees spend years in tiny metal boxes called “las latas” (tin cans) under conditions described by the Rapporteur as “inhuman.”

During the summer, heat in these metal boxes reaches 60° C and the lack of ventilation means that detainees had to sit in shifts in front of tiny openings to breathe. They also had to cut themselves in order to get medical assistance.

In Nigeria, a small hole in the corner of the cell served as a toilet for 100 detainees whose cell had a makeshift roof making the temperature and humidity unbearable.

In many cases, prisoners have to wait for hours before a guard lets them out to use a toilet, and most detainees are watched by others as they use a hole in the corner of an overcrowded cell.

The Uruguayan leadership gave orders to close down that particular prison three days after Nowak’s visit in March. In Nigeria, the government decided to release 20,000 prisoners since their pre trial detention lasted longer than their maximum term. Many people above the age of 60 have already been released.

Worse than the beatings and torture to extract confessions.... is living in prisons where the government does not provide food or health services. Instead, it the responsibility of individual families to organize meals and toilet articles.

“If you’re a foreigner or you don’t have a family....you might starve or you may try to get food from other detainees in exchange for slavery like services, sexual services and other services….”says Nowak. “The poor are at the bottom of the prison hierarchy.”

The study declares the “re-education through labour” programme in the infamous Chinese Falun Gong camps equivalent to brainwashing. Then, in Togo, three detainees with serious mental disabilities were simply left unattended in a dark cell.

It is a conservative estimate that one million children are behind bars. Under international law, children can be jailed only under exceptional circumstances for a short period of time.

The report finds that children as young as eight or nine are packed away for minor crimes, end up for prolonged periods in pre-trial detention, and are treated much worse than the grown-ups. “Children more often than adults are subject to beatings and institutionalized corporal punishment......sexual violence,” says Nowak.

This is the Rapporteur’s fifth report since 2004, and now the UN agent is pushing for an international convention that will protect the rights of detainees as a vulnerable group. “Most people have no idea how life behind bars looks in reality,” he says.

In many instances, the UN’s requests to come and inspect the prisons have been denied for several years. “Unfortunately in the Arab world on the one hand torture is wildly practiced and secondly most countries did not request favorably to my request,” he says.

Countries suspected of human rights violations, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Syria have not responded to requests.

In Jordan, Nowak found that while there was no systematic torture, practices like beating on the soles and then walking on salt were carried out in a prison in Amman. The notorious Al-Jafr prison, located in the desert 350 km south of Amman in Jordan, was closed after the Special Rapporteur visited.

The UN estimates that the 10 million persons deprived of liberty worldwide are living in unacceptable conditions. The Rapporteur stresses that abuses also occur in industrialized nations particularly with aliens awaiting deportation or minors who have broken immigration laws.

Several countries have avoided a check-up including Afghanistan, India, Iran, Israel, Russia and United States. Cuba has invited Nowak for a visit in 2010.

Rahim Kanani: The Great Convergence of Crises: Can We Handle the 21st Century?

2009-10-21T10:36:44Z

We have entered a new era of human civilization in which the challenges pressed upon our world have yet to be matched by the fierce intelligence required to resolve them. The challenges we face encompass a boiling planet and vanishing cropland; extreme poverty and fledgling economic development; and impeding shortages of fresh water, oil and other natural resources, among many others--all of which are arrows in the crossbows of mankind. The moving target: effective, sustained, and strategic global partnerships. This century, the world shares a uniquely common future, whether in tragedy or victory, and the only way to nail that bull's-eye is shifting the mentality of the international community from one of reactive assessment to proactive engagement.

There's just one caveat: the United Nations estimates the global population surpassing 9 billion by the year 2050. Of this projected increase, nine countries are estimated to account for a full 50% of this growth. Listed in accordance with their contribution, they are India, Pakistan, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Uganda, the United States, Ethiopia, and China. Pause for a moment, and think about integrating the implications of adding an additional 3 billion people to planet earth to the host of already-complicated challenges outlined above. Failing to build in consequence will result in devastating scenarios. One example is the new notion of food security. Recently, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton noted that since 2007, there have been riots over food in more than 60 countries. "Massive hunger poses a threat to the stability of governments, societies and borders," she held.

Just last week, World Food Day was marked by UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman declaring that for the first time in human history, more than 1 billion people around the world are suffering from malnutrition and hunger--up 100 million from 2008. We are losing the battle to feed the world's unnourished, and if we continue down this line of negative progress, one can imagine dozens of food riots evolving into dozens of armed conflicts. Indeed, the quest for basic life-saving sustenance will also encourage incredible population flows unrestrained by international boundaries, sharply increasing the number of refugees worldwide.

Mass migration is unquestionably another foreseeable challenge: instead of developing an emergency action plan upon witnessing the tens of millions of people around the world who are ultimately forced to migrate beyond their borders after having suffered from the damning effects of climate change, extreme weather and severe impoverishment, we need to intelligently anticipate the crisis and prescribe potential solutions well in advance. One avenue of resolve is for the international community to encourage regional leadership in parts of the world likely to be most affected by this astonishing growth, and to call on them to act as Ambassador's for 2050. Rather than leading the charge, we must act as brokers of new partnerships between nations who must confront these crises, in addition to integrating their implications into our national strategies of international development, diplomacy, and defense. We must help countries help themselves, and enable them with the proper tools of research, policy planning, and resource management to allow them to incorporate predictive modes of thinking into their current frameworks of decision-making.

There has been no other moment in history that has required our civilization to, more quickly and more adeptly, re-conceptualize the way in which we understand ourselves in relation to the other. Every citizen of the earth has a stake in the future peace and prosperity of our species, and we can no longer limit our thinking to merely second and third generation consequences, for we must start thinking about fourth, fifth and sixth generation consequences--the challenges of our time demand such prudence. The learning curve is a steep 90 degrees, and it will take courageous leadership from all levels of society to rebrand the future as common, shared, and valued. A critical component to rebranding the next one hundred years is the proactive measure of redefining the role of education in addressing societal ills. The need for creative and interdisciplinary thought, study, and action has never been greater. We must institutionalize a culture of innovation into our educational systems; revamp our curricula to reflect the defining issues of our time; and graduate cadres of students around the world who are well versed in the interconnectedness of social, political, economic and environmental challenges. A transformation of the education sector provides a new method of problem solving, and is not a solution in itself. Rather, it is a gateway to elicit new bodies of issue-specific knowledge required to predict and solve future calamities, valuing the wisdom of hindsight equally with the wisdom of foresight.

With United Nations Day approaching this Friday, it is important not to ignore the role of this institution in handling these crises, which is, at best, facilitative, and at worst, irrelevant. The debate between legitimacy and efficiency, while of necessity, has come to a crossroads: it is now time to choose. The effective, sustained, and strategic global partnerships I refer to as essential in confronting these issues are not based on principles of universal inclusion, nor are they driven by global consensus--they are a constellation of action-oriented alliances aimed at specific regional and international challenges. Cooperative agreements between particular nations, rather than 192 member states, targeting key areas on a collision course with climate change, preparing for the coming needs of millions more hungry souls, designing refugee and migration policies where massive growth and flow is inevitable, and exercising smart fiscal and social management of finite resources, is the sensible way forward in the 21st century.

The symptoms of catastrophe are unmistakable, and the diagnosis is clear: we are in a race against time with the forces of the natural world. Predictive modeling and preventative planning is phase one of the cure. We must administer the treatment, as for the hundreds of millions to be born in societies already unable to provide for their people, this truly is a matter of life and death.

African Children Denounced As "Witches" By Christian Pastors

2009-10-18T00:13:07Z

EKET, Nigeria — The nine-year-old boy lay on a bloodstained hospital sheet crawling with ants, staring blindly at the wall.

His family pastor had accused him of being a witch, and his father then tried to force acid down his throat as an exorcism. It spilled as he struggled, burning away his face and eyes. The emaciated boy barely had strength left to whisper the name of the church that had denounced him – Mount Zion Lighthouse.

Nigerian Militants Threaten To Resume Attacks On Oil Installations

2009-10-08T10:29:41Z

MOVEMENT for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND) said yesterday that militants would resume fresh attacks on oil installations in the country at the expiration of its ceasefire on October 15, just as it also distanced the group from tomorrow's meeting of President Umaru Yar'Adua with ex-militant leaders and governors.

Adriana Dunn: Crude World: An Interview with Peter Maass

2009-10-07T17:53:39Z

In Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil (Knopf, $27) author and journalist Peter Maass embarks on an eight-year investigation into the economics and politics of oil production, surveying the true costs of oil beyond carbon emissions and high prices at the pump. Maass, a contributing writer for New York Times Magazine, travels to countries where oil has been discovered to get a first-hand understanding of the consequences -- war, poverty, corruption and dictatorship. It's an essential, fascinating read that, through anecdotal evidence of the destruction caused, infuriates the reader. But there's still hope. We already have the technologies and policies to cure the addiction, Maass writes, and it's now up to us to take those solutions and act on them.

Q. How did your curiosity about the reasons for global conflict and poverty develop into an obsession with oil and subsequent journey into the "violent twilight of oil"?

A. Much of my writing life involved wars that I covered from the Balkans to Africa and the Middle East, and oil was often mentioned. "It's all about oil," I was told. Or, "It's not about oil at all." Oil is central to our world but what role does it play in violent conflicts and the divide between rich and poor? I wanted to answer those questions. My initial work began before 9/11 and when I searched Amazon.com for books on oil, the proffered list included more tomes on salad dressing and aromatherapy than on the liquid that was the oxygen of the global economy. Some excellent books had been published, of course, but mainly for academic or expert readers. I had found my subject -- a book that would explain in compelling ways what we do for oil and what oil does to us. I wasn't aware that the subject would consume eight years of my life and take me from Texas to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Russia, Venezuela, Nigeria and beyond. But I'm glad it did.

Q. How can increased transparency in divulging both production data and the details of oil and gas deals assist in curbing the true costs of crude that you detail in the book?

A. One of the oilmen I write about is J. Bryan Williams, who worked for Mobil and spent two years in American jails on tax-evasion charges related to deals he negotiated in corruption-plagued countries like Kazakhstan. "What are oil companies supposed to do?" Williams told me. "We don't create these places. Do we only develop oil in London or Paris? If so, we'll all be out there walking and stepping over piles of manure." He had an intriguing point -- that if we want oil, we have to get it from countries where corruption is rampant, as is secrecy around oil deals (which of course contributes to corruption). It will be hard to turn oil into a blessing for every dysfunctional country that has it, but the downsides can be reduced by transparency. That means publishing contracts and payments so that it is harder for corrupt officials to steal and harder for corrupt companies to, well, corrupt. Several movements are afoot to do this. One is called the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which is government-led, and the other is Publish What You Pay, which is non-governmental and backs mandatory disclosures rather than voluntary ones. A bipartisan bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate last month that would require all companies registered with the SEC to publish any payments above $100,000 that they make to foreign countries for oil or other minerals.

It's also important to track revenues once they're in the system -- are oil funds spent on military goods and phony contracts that enrich a president's cousin? Watchdog groups are beginning to do this in some countries; this is happening and we, in the west, can support it in so many ways. By contacting legislators to get their support on transparency legislation; by donating to anti-corruption NGOs or providing other forms of support (networking, technical assistance and so on). These things will help but let's be honest -- corruption is an ancient vice, and the fostering of good governance is an uphill endeavor in any country, whether it exports oil or peanuts. We also need to also establish a baseline of sorts -- utter kleptocrats and beyond-the-pale dictators should be opposed rather than tolerated for the oil they control.

Q. Is there a world in which Iraq, Nigeria, Ecuador, Afghanistan, Equatorial Guinea and other countries that have been undermined by their oil reserves can continue to produce oil while suppressing the conflict caused by it, as Norway and Abu Dhabi have?

A. Norway is a wonderful example of a country that has truly benefited from its mineral wealth, but it had the advantage of finding democracy before it found oil. Its civic institutions were extremely strong when hydrocarbons were found in its North Sea waters, so the temptations of oil -- the corruption and bad policies that it can encourage -- were avoided. Democracy ensured open discussions and, in the end, good decisions. For instance, most [oil] revenues are put into a giant reserve fund (a national savings account, in effect) so that future generations will benefit from today's revenues. This sort of discipline is hard for poorer countries to adhere to; either their leadership is fragile, corrupt or unable to resist the temptation of spending everything now, or their social problems are so deep (like Nigeria's) that not spending the money -- even though much of the money is stolen or wasted on unwise projects and policies -- is impossible. As for Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Brunei -- these are very small territories with massive reserves on a per-capita basis. There's almost no way for them to squander everything through corruption or waste. The only lesson that can be learned from them is that it's useful to discover large amounts of oil and have only a small population to spend the revenues on.

I don't think it's hopeless, however. In the countries for which oil has been a curse, better policies on the part of consuming countries like the United States can make a difference. Not only transparency efforts, but also the obligation for our companies to adhere to the same environmental and legal standards overseas that they (generally) hold to in the United States. And we must not assist in what amounts to laundering money that corrupt leaders take or hide from their people. Not long ago, Riggs Bank accepted suitcases of cash from Teodoro Obiang's terrible regime in Equatorial Guinea. This sort of behavior can be stopped by our government; increased oversight and regulation of the banking sector, which is happening as a result of the 2008 economic crash, will certainly make a difference. Additionally, if we can accelerate our transition into a post-oil society, the countries that have been made dysfunctional by oil will have a chance to reset themselves. It will be difficult for them, but with our help they can suffer less, perhaps in the interim benefit more from their oil than they have in the past, and be encouraged into a post-oil age along with the rest of the world.

Q. Of all the shocking examples of the devastation caused by oil in lesser-developed countries that you write about in the book, which were you most surprised to uncover?

A. Nigeria. It's a country that in the 1960s was promising -- it had a strong agricultural sector, small-scale manufacturing and a well-educated elite. Of course the country also had some inherent problems that were not related to oil. Nigeria was a creation of British map-makers, it had hundreds of tribal groups and different religious traditions (a major source of conflict, unfortunately). Oil, which began to be exported in large quantities in the late 1960s, helped turn all of these things into disasters. I traveled into the Niger Delta, where most of Nigeria's oil comes from, and it was horrifying to a surreal degree. I saw open and massive flares in the creeks (flaring on a scale that is not allowed in America), wells that were dripping oil into the creeks (if a match had been lit on my canoe, we could have started a fire on the water) and villages that had been destroyed in fighting between militias and government soldiers fighting for control of the oil. I stayed in a village that was the epitome of destitution -- no running water, no electricity, no healthcare, no school -- and just 50 yards across the creek was a multi-billion dollar Shell facility that had well-tended lawns, buildings with electricity, air-conditioning and high-tech computers. Of course it was ringed by security fences and government troops; a fortress of oil and modernity in a region of squalor and violence. A local leader invited me onto his canoe for a tour of the area. "You see how we live," he said. After several decades of oil extraction and at least $400 billion of revenues, Nigeria is poorer today and more violent than it was at the time the first oil flowed.

Q. In the chapter titled "Plunder" you discuss your inevitable expulsion from Equatorial Guinea, which is one of the most censored countries in the world behind only North Korea, Burma and Turkmenistan. Does your approach to reporting differ when faced with a situation such as this?

A. Yes and no. It's always the same thing; get into the country and ask questions and listen and watch. I knew that Equatorial Guinea would be difficult -- several foreign journalists had been expelled in the year that preceded my visit. I lasted for about eight days. The information minister began calling me and texting me, demanding to meet. I agreed to see him at an outdoor cafe. He arrived with an aide and said I was being expelled. The president, Teodoro Obiang, was upset with my presence and activities, he explained. At the time, the minister was angry but controlled. I was driven to the airport and then the minister became truly enraged and shouted that I was a spy and would be taken downtown for an interrogation. This is something you don't want to undergo in a country that has one of the worst human rights records in the world. So I was in a tight spot, made especially so when the minister began slapping my arms because I wasn't opening my backpack quickly enough (he wanted to inspect my belongings again). I decided to make a threat that I had never made in my life. I told him that if he continued to harass me the American government would be upset and Obiang, who had visited Washington many times and owned real estate there, would never be allowed to return. This was a bluff -- I had no idea how the American government would react to my incarceration. But I knew Obiang depended on American investment and American friendship (a shameful relationship for our government, of course) and that he wouldn't want to jeopardize it. I sensed that the minister, who could not know whether I was bluffing, would not want to be held responsible for ruining Obiang's relationship with America. So the minister backed off. Oil had saved me. I wish it could do that for the people of Equatorial Guinea.

Q. You have identified a number of solutions in the conclusion of the book -- compliance with Publish What You Pay, developing renewable energy sources, adopting diets that consist of locally sourced food and less meat, and the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other prevailing laws, among others. One remedy you suggest that was particularly interesting is complementing the enforcement of laws with "social pressure that opposes unethical and exploitative profiteering". Could you elaborate on this and talk about how it can be attained?

A. In the conclusion of my book I quote Ida Tarbell, the great reporter who a century ago uncovered the manipulations of John D. Rockefeller. Tarbell wrote that to prevent the excesses of people like Rockefeller, "There is no cure but in an increasing scorn of unfair play -- an increasing sense that a thing won by breaking the rules of the game is not worth the winning." The question you ask is perfect -- how do we do this? Like Tarbell, I'm sure of the need for greater social responsibility on individual and corporate levels. But I'm just a writer, skilled perhaps at writing about the things that need to be done, or identifying what needs to be done, but not necessarily skilled at figuring out how to get those things done. I can only point out the obvious -- parents, teachers, journalists and politicians need to do a better job of emphasizing non-monetary richness; the richness of community friendships and networks, of environmentally-responsible lifestyles and the like. We need to recalibrate our notions of success and happiness, and we need to do a better job of disseminating those notions and their intrinsic value. But that doesn't answer your question -- how do we do this? I'm not sure, but I think some of it is beginning to happen. There are lots of organizations devoted to these things -- TakePart.com is one -- that did not exist five or ten years ago. Maybe we're beginning to do the right things.

Q. What do you hope readers will take away from Crude World?

A. Two things.

First, an understanding that the price of oil is more than what we pay at the pump or even the carbon emitted into the atmosphere. Paradoxically, many of the people and countries that supply us with oil are suffering because of it. They suffer wars and poverty and dictatorship because of oil that we, in the consuming world, think they must be lucky to possess.

Second, I think it is very hard to write in a compelling way about natural resources and the ways they affect our lives and the lives of others. I've tried in "Crude World" to engage readers in a subject, oil, that can be dry even though it is so important. Writers and aspiring writers need to know it's possible to write smart and engaging books about issues that defy easy story-telling. I hope some readers will finish my book and say to themselves, "I can do that too." And I wouldn't mind at all if they also said, "I can do it better!"

--

Peter Maass will discuss Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 7:30 pm. Reservations here. More information on his book tour here.

Originally appeared on TakePart.

Brian Palmer: Happy Birthday, AFRICOM!

2009-10-05T15:44:36Z

Last October 1 at a Pentagon ceremony, General William E. "Kip" Ward unfurled a shimmering baby blue flag with a large green Africa-shaped emblem at its center. Smiling dignitaries -- Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, and others -- looked on. With that (plus several de rigueur speeches) U.S. Africa Command, aka AFRICOM, was activated.

The Department of Defense divides the world into six (formerly five) areas of geographic responsibility, or "regional combatant commands": European, Northern, Southern, Central, Pacific, and now "Africa." The commander of each of these zones, a four-star general, coordinates all DoD activities in that area. In other words, if a conflict breaks out, the regional combatant commander is responsible for conducting military operations. By law, he -- and thus far it has been all hes -- reports directly to the Secretary of Defense and the President.

As a freestanding combatant command, AFRICOM's "area of responsibility" (AOR) covers the African continent minus Egypt, which falls within Central Command's AOR. Under the old system, Africa was divvied up into territorial chunks and placed under three different commands -- European, Pacific, and Central. AFRICOM, launched in October 2007 as a subordinate element of European Command in a kind of training-wheels period, was created to unify DoD's diffuse Africa efforts.

The new command is unlike the five others in one crucial way: it has no standing forces -- no armies or divisions poised for combat. AFRICOM is responsible for DoD personnel across the continent, both civilian and military, and for Camp Lemonier in the tiny East Africa nation of Djibouti. Lemonier is the U.S.'s only established (and publicly acknowledged) base on the continent -- the Army calls it "infrastructure" to avoid offending African sensibilities -- and has about "2,400 military members and contract civilians assigned." Congress allotted $100 million for improvements to Lemonier between 2007 and 2010. "The camp is becoming an enduring mission," Combined Joint Task Force -- Horn of Africa commander Rear Adm. Anthony Kurta told Star and Stripes.

In a sense, al Qaeda reawakened American interest in Africa, specifically the 1998 coordinated bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. After 9/11, the Bush administration set up CJTF-HOA to hunt al Qaeda in East Africa.

In 2005, the U.S. military estimated that 25 percent of foreign fighters captured in Iraq were African, asserted then-Lieutenant Commander Pat Paterson of the U.S. Navy in a 2006 article published in Proceedings, the journal of the U.S. Naval Institute. Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence, called Algeria's al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb "a significant threat to U.S. and Western interests in the region" in a March 2009 statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee. DNI identifies Somalia-based al Shabab al Islamiya as similarly dangerous.

Unbeknown to most Americans, the Departments of Defense and State maintain a wide web of military programs across Africa -- the African Contingency Operations, Training and Assistance program (part of a global peacekeeper-training initiative), Operation Enduring Freedom-Trans Sahara, the Trans-Sahara Counter terrorism Program, plus Joint Combined Exchange Training, Joint Contact Team Program, Joint Planning Advisory Teams, and many other bilateral connections.

Beyond military matters, the U.S. identifies poverty, transnational crime, HIV/AIDS, and internal conflicts in countries like Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan, and Nigeria as serious threats to security on the continent, across the region, and globally.

Even before it was launched, there were serious P.R. problems with AFRICOM, principally current events and history. Many people across the continent harbored fears of creeping U.S. militarism (read: Iraq) and America's long record of backing African dictators simply because they toed the anti-communist line during the Cold War. African leaders (and citizens) worried aloud that Africa would simply become the next battlefield in the American "global war on terror" and an economic captive of the U.S. because of the continent's oil supply -- and America's insatiable demand. (The U.S. now imports more oil from Africa than the Middle East).

"AFRICOM will focus on providing better support for the pursuit of renewed U.S. interests in Africa, which can be accurately summarized in three words -- 'oil, China and terrorism,'" Addis Ababa-based security analyst Berouk Mesfin wrote in the April 2009 issue of African Security Review. This nails the opposition argument in a neat little nutshell.

AFRICOM and State Department officials did their best to allay such fears.

"The creation of U.S. Africa Command does not mean the U.S. military will take a leading role in African security matters, nor will it establish large U.S. troop bases," AFRICOM's website says. In another move meant to reassure, but which has worried many, a U.S. State Department official was integrated into AFRICOM's chain of command as "Deputy to the Commander for Civil-Military Affairs." (The title didn't include the words "to the" originally, giving it an imposing martial ring).

The mixing of traditionally civilian and military missions alarms human rights and good governance groups. Militaries are seen as -- and are, in fact -- hierarchical, warfighting forces. People with guns can provide short-term disaster assistance, the argument goes, but they shouldn't be in the business of providing butter and setting up the essential intangibles of civil society.

But such civil-military initiatives are already under way: "Small groups of U.S. Special Forces are already traversing the hinterlands of more than a dozen countries in the Sahel, Sahara and the Horn of Africa, training and equipping local troops to combat Islamists," the editors of the African Terrorism Bulletin wrote in October 2006. "Small civil affairs units are traveling to remote villages to dispense medical care, dig wells and build schools while identifying watering holes and potential terrorist camp sites and establishing links with local peoples. This approach was used by the U.S. during the Cold War, notably in El Salvador. Now referred to as the Salvador Option, it aims to undermine insurgencies long before they can threaten local governments allied to the U.S.," the article continues.

Without specifying what they do, AFRICOM spokesman Crawley confirmed that teams from Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa "work with folks in the Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania. They are not doing any work in Somalia," he said.

AFRICOM does have its champions across the continent.

"We believe that the new Africa Command of the U.S. military -- AFRICOM -- can play an important role on the continent, and in Liberia," that nation's president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, said in a 2008 speech to the Washington, DC-based advocacy group Africare.

"The U.S. Africa command will be important in playing a major role in bringing lasting peace and security across the continent," said Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Of course, neither leader is a disinterested party: both Liberia and Ethiopia receive substantial military support from the U.S.

The link between the U.S. and Liberian forces is so tight that it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins: The U.S., instrumental in founding the nation, began supporting its armed forces in 1912. Over the past 90-plus years, the Liberian military went from a reasonably stable force to a politicized and brutal tool of successive military regimes -- some backed by the U.S. United Nations troops assumed security responsibilities for the country in the wake of the horrific civil war. The Armed Forces of Liberia were demobilized in 2005, and the Liberian government invited the U.S. to lead "Security Sector Reform." The U.S. contracted with private military contractor DynCorp to train the new army. DynCorp, which has racked up a pile of charges and investigations for its actions in Bosnia and Iraq, turned over its training facility to the Liberians this July, but the U.S. military maintains strong ties to the AFL and the Monrovia government. Liberia was one of only seven countries favored with a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her recent visit to Africa.

The Meles government cooperated with CJTF-HOA, the U.S.-led counter terror task force, early on. In 2004, the U.S. military set up Camp United, a "temporary training facility," in Ethiopia, according to the Army News Service. (When asked, AFRICOM spokesman Vince Crawley told me he had never heard of Camp United but that the American military sets up "temporary training camps" when working with host-nation militaries.)

More troublesome to AFRICOM critics, the U.S. aided Ethiopia with arms and advisers during its December 2006 invasion of Somalia to depose the Union of Islamic Courts government. According to a 2007 New York Times story, U.S. AC-130 gunships flew missions out of Ethiopia and American special forces from Task Force 88 accompanied Ethiopian troops into Somalia. To put it mildly, this concerns many analysts and African leaders, even those who partake of U.S. military aid, arms sales, and cooperation, like South Africa.

South Africa's Minister of Defense, Mosiuoa Lekota, urged African nations to rebuff U.S. efforts to base the new command on the continent because it "threatens our sovereignty." There's also a tremendous not-in-my-front-yard sentiment when it comes to headquartering the command. No country other than Liberia has stepped up, and as of now, AFRICOM's home is Stuttgart, Germany.

So what has AFRICOM accomplished in its first year, and have such fears come to pass or been allayed?

"We spent a year really building a lot of strategic coherence in our work in Africa," Crawley, AFRICOM's Chief of Public Information, told me in a phone interview. He cites as concrete accomplishments the January 2009 multination military exercise FLINTLOCK in Mali (which included U.S. Special Forces); a U.S. airlift of African peacekeepers deploying to Rwanda; and, recently, the successful conclusion of an intelligence course for Nigerian military officers.

"There was a lot of discussion of Africa Command early on when people didn't know what we were doing," Crawley said. AFRICOM "was seen as some kind of a NATO-like defense structure" in which countries would trade sovereignty for a closer relationship with the U.S. It is not, he said. Furthermore, he added, "we go only where we're invited."

"The past year has been more of a year of transition," from Presidents Bush to Obama, says A. Sarjoh Bah, Program Coordinator for Africa Security Institutions & Global Peace Operations at NYU's Center on International Cooperation. "In terms of the initial skepticism, I haven't seen any seismic shift in the position that has been taken by African civil society groups," Bah says. South African countries "still don't want anything to do with AFRICOM." Liberia, however, would love to host it, but "we all know Liberia doesn't have the infrastructure to do that," Bah says.

Daniel Volman, Director of the African Security Research Project, is quite a bit more skeptical. "I think it's clear that the Obama administration is continuing along the trajectory set by the Clinton and Bush administrations with regard to U.S. military involvement in Africa, and the missions of the new Africa Command. Like them, it believes that it is necessary to use military instruments to pursue what it sees as the primary U.S. interests in Africa: protecting U.S. access to oil and other resources, making the continent a central battlefield in the Global War on Terrorism, and demonstrating America's commitment to competing with China for political and economic influence." (China has been investing in Africa since the 1970s, but only recently in earnest -- one of China's three state-owned oil companies is trying to woo the Nigerian government to land oil contracts now held by Western multinationals, worth an estimated $30 billion.)

As examples of the less benign -- and worrisome -- side of the U.S. effort, Volman cites the raids on Somalia, the military presence in Djibouti (acknowledged by DoD in 2002 as a launching pad for antiterrorism operations), and the administration's request for more funding for arms sales to Algeria, Angola, Nigeria, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, and Sao Tome.

There is no either/or here: the humanitarian, capacity-building, and multilateral missions AFRICOM says it is committed to and will coexist with the pursuit of U.S. national security as defined by the Obama administration. African leaders must once again manage relationships with the world's greatest power -- and civil society groups must monitor these relationships to ensure that the interests of ordinary people aren't crushed in all the political, economic, and military wheeling and dealing.

Venkat Srinivasan: Aching for Immigration Reform

2009-10-02T11:16:05Z

It was a quiet and dull late August evening in 2008 both inside and outside Eye Adom African restaurant in the Bronx. The kitchen was teeming with prepared food and underutilized staff. Yet, beyond all the empty tables, Efo, the Ghanaian-American owner, sat excitedly, smiling at the live telecast of the Democratic National Convention. Efo had set up a projector for the occasion.

President Barack Obama was accepting the Democratic presidential nomination then, with a rousing speech in front of over 80,000 supporters at the Invesco Field in Denver. Efo toggled between MSNBC's and CNN's broadcasts during commercial breaks to be certain he missed nothing.

His face went through cycles of worry and excitement. Slouching on the table, propping his head up with his hands, he kept staring at the restaurant entrance. "Business has been slow all day. Usually lots of regular customers come in by this time," he trailed off, before eyeing the telecast again. "Will Obama keep his word?"

Efo voted for Obama. He was convinced even before the President's Democratic nomination that Obama was going to win the elections in November. But he just wasn't sure what lay ahead for the country in the years to come.

Long after the political marathon and now in the midst of a hesitant economy and difficult health care debate, it is understandable that thousands like Efo will probably be anxious for a while.

Africans aren't quite the political swing factor in the country yet: There aren't many, and many can't vote either. But they are emblematic of the shifting dynamic in the American political arena and the influence of ethnic minorities.

African immigrants, regardless of their immigration status, root for Obama. While the economy dominates all issues, ethnic minorities continue to hope that immigration reform does not fade into oblivion either. Their confidence in his policies often mirror Obama's inspirational call for change and hope that he will be the catalyst for immigration reform.

Political restrictions in their own countries of origin sometimes play a part in that optimism. But if asked, they bluntly dismiss Obama's African roots. "It's not because he's black," insisted Obed, a Ghanaian college student living in Queens. "He has vision, he's young." These themes are likely to repeat themselves in the years to come as the nation grasps the meaning of its multi-ethnicity.

George Onuorah, a Nigerian-American who is the founder and president of a non-profit youth empowerment organization, was one of the Obama campaign's many grassroots supporters. To him, Obama's African origins were not to be misconstrued as support for Africa. He is convinced that President Obama will view the world as a diverse place.

The diverse African community -- voters, non-voters and undocumented residents alike -- was involved strongly in election volunteering for Obama despite being largely invisible to the country. "Every day I earn points on the Obama campaign," said Titi, a fashion designer from Togo, a week before Election Day last year. "I've already earned 1000 points." He wasn't eligible to vote but kept immigration issues alive in the grassroots. The economy is tied to immigration in a vicious cycle, he emphasized.

Undocumented immigrants have been routinely deported in the past years, leaving behind families without a bread-winner and therefore, marginalized.

By 1996, non-citizens with an invalid immigration status were deported as mandatory punishment. So even if judges feels an alien father needs to stay to support his U.S.-born children, they are bound by law to execute the order to deport the father. The children then essentially have to choose between a parent and an alien country. The spouse, if a citizen, may not find a job and their children may be forced to find drugs and gangs - paths with unfavorable futures in an uncertain economy, Titi says. These families become dependent on public money, in an already deflated economy.

Not surprisingly then, immigration reform is the fueling undercurrent in the community. "I think the immigrant community will always support anyone who will provide amnesty to them," said Mohammed Nurhussein, the national chairman of the United African Congress. Rep. Jose Serrano from New York's 16th District introduced the "Child Citizen Protection Act" in 2007. It stated that a judge should be allowed discretionary powers to decide whether an alien parent of a U.S. citizen child should be deported or not. The bill is currently under review by House subcommittee.

These efforts by politicians and activists reflect the growing need to assimilate immigrant populations that remain off the official census. The 2006 American Community Survey states that almost 112,000 people of African origin legally live in New York City, largely fueled by the visa lottery. But another 360,000 of the nearly 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. are also primarily from Africa, according to a Pew Hispanic Center report. Newer immigrant communities will be watching the Obama administration's moves closely.

Paule-Sylvie Yonke, a community organizer in New York City, emphasized that citizenship wasn't a precursor for political action, and sometimes, the lack of it only made people more active in the hope for reform. "You don't have to be a U.S. citizen to write letters and generate enthusiasm," she said. Yonke, an American of Cameroonian origin, felt that the basic ability to voice opinions freely in the U.S. counted for something for those who might be coming from countries with restrictions on freedom of speech. "It is part of human condition," she said. "When you have room to breathe, you do breathe."

The political climate in the U.S. is the antithesis of what these immigrants might see in their countries of origin. In Cameroon for instance, Paul Biya has held onto the presidency since 1982 and the government has been riddled with corruption and dictatorship charges. And those who do voice their opinions have it hard. In April 2008, Cameroon's government arrested Lapiro de Mbanga, a popular singer-songwriter, for criticizing President Biya's controversial amendments to the country's constitution.

"In Africa, the president is like king," said Mamadou Kone, who is originally from Cote d'Ivoire. "He has everything. If you talk, the next day you're dead." Much like children in families across the country then, African non-voters influenced others to cast off their political apathy. Kone was one of those who brought voters in to vote for Obama, with some hope for global change. Though Kone didn't think Obama's rise to presidency changed politics in Cote d'Ivoire, he expected it to give hope to its younger generation.

It is an optimism that people across America often cited when pressed for a reason for their vote in the previous elections. "The change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington," said Obama, in that Democratic Convention speech that Efo was watching. Delivering his victory speech in Chicago in November 2008, he was more somber, acutely aware of what lay ahead. "The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep," he said. "We may not get there in one year or even in one term."

Kone and others hope that the climb includes immigration issues, though it may not be foremost on Obama's mind today. Obama, on his part, has also been forced to emphasize that caution repeatedly in the months since taking office.

Hope is an infectious, sometimes blinding pill. But it is paramount to the President that Americans apply his message of hope and change. He exhorts the public to not just believe in his ability to bring change but to start digging into their own reserves. "I'm asking you to believe in yours," he often says.

As ethnic minorities watch the country resurrect itself from the economic crisis, it is a statement he would hope fellow Americans like Efo as well as thousands of hopeful immigrants don't forget.

Stephen Macfarlane: The Vanderbilt Republic Foundation: Something Old, Something New

2009-09-25T14:09:57Z

The VRF is not comprised of Luddites. The VRF believes in communicating digitally, quality contemporary graphic design, audacious new concepts for philanthropy, and exploring new and neglected items of interest for viewers, photographers, activists and working creative professionals.

The VRF is not comprised of Luddites except, of course, when it comes to photography.

Here on The Periodical, the only discourse given to digital media has been (somewhat paradoxically) in the area of information exchange. The way people consume and digest information is different from what it was five years ago, which was in turn a watershed difference compared to the early beginnings of the public-consumption Internet in the early 90s - but you knew that already.

So how about images? The VRF hinges on a notion some might consider draconian, which is that a picture taken on film has advantages - for viewer and subject alike - that simply don't exist in the world of digital photography. George Del Barrio recognizes (thrives on, really) the miniscule moment of tension that occurs when the photographer pours all of his brain through his viewfinder and stakes it all on what will become the image. It's not "documentary", it's a document.

These moments probably add up to a few minutes of cumulative time on a shoot, but they're what professional film photographers are paid for. (In a grave and terrible irony, this also adds considerably to the power of the one-off photographs by Nhem En discussed earlier.)

Back in the midcentury glory days of American plastic arts, this wasn't such a big deal, of course - film was cheaper and paper publications still dominated the information markets. Out of this period emerged a set of photographer archetypes: fashion photographers, travel photographers, "documentary" photographers. As the industry became better-organized and stratified, broader unspoken rules dictated how certain types of subjects were photographed. These rules have given rise to a kind of photograph we can call the contextualized Other.

The intentions behind the trend are not particularly racist or insidious. The operant assumption is merely that a reader in Kansas City wouldn't be able to connect directly with the face of a Maasai warrior unless said warrior were shrouded in traditional garb, clearly exposed & focused, and properly situated in a frame that included perhaps other Maasai warriors, cows, maybe the surrounding terrain, and was maybe conjoined with a concise explanation of all the photograph's contents. (See Walker Percy's "Loss Of The Creature" for a literary explanation.)

It makes enough sense when you break it down - but the product has been volumes upon volumes of photographs that get closer to Frank Sinatra than to the majority of the world's population. Stereotypes are reinforced rather than reduced, and icons are determined less by stories or cultures than by advertising executives and magazine editors. Without being overly PC, it's safe to say: if world culture is supposedly globalizing, Western media is largely yet to catch on.

Given the current media situation of the world, our norms of "content" have continued to suffer. But reciprocally, the potential today for a corrective is vast - and the way many of these communities have begun to make their own myths can be fascinating. In the coming weeks, Del Barrio will be posting some of his photographs - old and new alike - to better explain just why the VRF is the best team to help Cambodian Living Arts recast their own national myths.

Jim Luce: Asia Society's Prez on Global Citizens Like Obama

2009-09-19T09:56:48Z

“As Americans, we have the
unfortunate idea that we should and need to learn more about the world, but
it’s not a priority.

“We get to it when we can,
which is seldom,” said Dr. Vishakha Desai, president of the Asia Society.

So began an interview with
a brilliant woman who heads one of the world’s largest cultural institutions,
The Asia Society.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton make
her first major foreign policy speech at the

Asia Society in February 2009. At right
is Asia Society President Dr. Vishakha Desai.

(Photo: Bill Swersey/Asia Society)

Many think of the Asia
Society as a Rockefeller-endowed Upper East Side institution that hosts
incredible art exhibits and extraordinary performances.

It is that, and so much
more. Now expanded across the world, with ten facilities from San Francisco to
Melbourne, the Society is established in eight countries. In Asia, the
Society runs programs in the cities of Manila, Mumbai, Hong Kong,
and Shanghai.

Dr. Desai first came to the U.S. as an AFS high school exchange student. See my recent piece on AFS, World Peace begins in High School

When she arrived to California, it was at the height of the
Vietnam War. Dr. Desai was astonished to
discover that Americans thought of that Asian country as only a “war.”

In Karachi,
Dr. Desai announces the exhibition Hanging Fire:
Contemporary Art
from Pakistan, currently on view through January 3, 2010. (Photo: Asia Society)

There was no thought,
discussion, idea that Vietnam was a nation, a culture, a people, with its own vivid history stretching back in time. Americans knew, she
learned, sadly little about the world.

However, much has changed since then. There is still work to be done. Dr. Desai is excited about our new president
and expects many great things from Barack Obama, “Our first globally-minded president.”

Not only does he represent
the first non-white American face to the world, but
with his background, he has an international credibility.

Dr. Desai believes as
Americans, we are intricately part of the world, not
merely sitting beside it.

She was mortified that
one-third of U.S. high school students recently could not identify the ocean
between the Americas and Asia. I am
confident readers of this column know!

“More than just that, he
is the son of an immigrant -- from Kenya -- but his mother was also a global
citizen. An American woman, married to a African Muslim, and studying anthropology in Indonesia.

“Barack was raised
understanding all religions.” In
Indonesia, where my own adopted son was born, Barack was surrounded by Muslims
- but also Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists.
His mother was committed to teaching him about different religions.

“We want to partner with
you. The U.S. will be a player, but not
the only player. That is our president’s message. How
refreshing!

States Dr. Desai, “The world believes in Barack. Americans in general are very
bad listeners. Obama is an exception – he is a very good listener.
Based on his life experiences, he is America’s first truly global president.”

Dr. Desai heads the Asia Society’s
program, “Partnership for Global Learning.” “We must train
our kids -- and adults -- to be a part of the world,” she explains.

One quarter of jobs in the
U.S. are connected to world trade. Paraphrasing
the former CEO of UPS, “we need an American workforce who knows the world.’

“We think we are global
with the Internet -- Facebook,
YouTube -- but this is only a virtual
connection. Internet friends are not a substitute for real
experiences. How one feels like to be a minority in another country or
culture.”

Saint Sambandar. Chola
period, 12th century. Copper alloy. Asia Society,
New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller
3rd Collection, 1979.24.
On view in the exhibition Devotion in South India: Chola
Bronzes,
Oct. 6, 2009 through Feb. 7, 2010. (Photo: Asia
Society)

The Asia Society can be
many different things to different people.
“Ours is a complex institution, and those experiencing it can describe
it in the same way the blind men touch
and describe an elephant.

“One man describes a leg,
another the trunk, or an ear – or the belly. Each is so unique, yet
collectively makes the animal. So it is with the Asia
Society,” states Dr. Desai.

Founded by John D.
Rockefeller 3rd in 1956, the Asia Society is the premier organization with a multi-dimensional
commitment -- combining culture, commerce, and current affairs -- with more
than 35 countries in Asia.

Recent changes include a
strengthening of partnerships between Americans and Asians, to look at shared problems
- and shared solutions.

The Society also pays special attention to the unique role of Asian-Americans as bridge builders
between different cultures.

Education is a key and the
Asia Society is actively engaged. Best
practices for teaching about Asia are promoted in inner cities. This program is funded by the Gates
Foundation.

The Society also supports
developing the best models for magnet schools and international high
schools. This is done by helping create
globally-oriented curriculum.

The goal is to bring
international content into America’s schools. And to promote an understanding of Asia as
part of the world.

The Society’s beautiful art exhibitions and cultural performances are well known to the
public. However, work not visibly seen include the behind-the-scenes efforts in the
arena of public policy.

Dr. Desai is as current
with Asian events as humanly possible. I
saw Ustad Amjad Ali Khan in concert last week.
She has known him for decades.

Pakistan is much in the
news. She insists we differentiate
between the Pakistani government and its people.

“The video of the Taliban
beating the young woman sent out a message to Pakistan’s middle class. Moderate people were offended. This was the tipping point,” she said.

I told her about my recent
trip to Sri Lanka. “Whether the level of
militancy was justified is hard to determine.
The proof is in the pudding. What
will the government of Sri Lanka do with the hundreds of thousands of
refugees? What with the northern city of
Jaffna?

“The civil war there was
untenable. The peace process could not
succeed. Now the conflict is over, the question is: How can minorities there
not be persecuted?” As she said, the
proof is in the pudding.

Dr. Desai has been a friend
of Hillary Clinton. “I was impressed
with her going to China. We need to
engage these countries as our partners.

“Secretary Clinton hit the
ground running. She is so familiar with
so many heads of states it has given her a real head start. I am delighted she and the president have
worked out such a strong relationship based on mutual respect.”

Dr. Desai is a frequent
speaker at national and international forums on a wide variety of subjects that
include US-Asia relationships, cultural roots of Asian economic development,
regional connections within the Asia Pacific region, as well as the arts and
cultures of Asia and Asian-America.

At the opening of Asia Society’s
center in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo: Asia Society)

She has authored many
opinion pieces that have appeared in over 50 publications around the world.

As a scholar of Asian art,
Dr. Desai has published and edited several books and numerous articles on traditional
and contemporary art. She has an
international reputation for introducing contemporary Asian art in the U.S.
through critically acclaimed exhibitions and scholarly catalogues.

The Asia Society has
expanded the scope and scale of its activities under her presidency. The opening

of new offices in India and
Korea, the inauguration of a new center on U.S.-China relations, and the
development of new initiatives focusing on the environment, on Asian women
leaders, and on partnerships among the next generation of exceptional leaders
in Asia and the U.S. reflect this.

Before joining Asia
Society in 1990, Dr. Desai was a curator at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. She has also taught at the University of
Massachusetts, Boston University, Columbia University, and Williams College.

Dr. Desai holds a B.A. in
Political Science from Bombay University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Asian Art
History from the University of Michigan.

She serves on the boards
of the Brookings Institution, Citizens Committee for New York City, Asian
University for Women, and the New York City Mayor's Advisory Commission for
Cultural Affairs.

Dr. Desai has served on
the boards of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the South Asian
Council of the Association of Asian Studies, ArtTable, and the Massachusetts
Foundation for the Humanities.

She is married to Robert
B. Oxnam,
a China scholar, who was Asia Society’s President from 1981 to 1992.

Her intense passion for
the Society makes me confident that Dr. Desai is the right person at the right
time to lead the Asia Society into our new millennium.

With her childhood in
India, an AFS experience in California, and decades of study and service since,
she is a thought leader and an extraordinary global citizen.

Beyond that, she is a
major player on the world stage who knows her lines and delights her
audiences. May her role bring Americans closer to the world she
represents.

I highly recommend the video
with Dr. Desai, “Welcome to the New Asia Society,” which may be viewed here. To join me as a fan of the Asia Society on Facebook,
click here. To see incredible videos, such as of Hillary
Clinton, see the Society’s YouTube site here.

Edited by Vanessa Kim (www.oneworldexp.com).

Doug Bandow: The Scandal of International Religious Persecution

2009-09-06T07:44:11Z

In today's globalized world, dictatorships have an ever harder time hiding their repressive practices. Just witness the tragedy of Iran carried out in front of the world's eyes. The list of oppressors is long: North Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Burma, Sudan, Cuba, and the Central Asian countries are among the world's most dedicated human rights abusers.

Most people think of political and civil freedoms when it comes to human rights. And the two are fundamental, to be sure. But most governments which violate these forms of individual liberty also suppress religious freedom.

Indeed, there is a good argument for treating religious liberty as the first freedom. If a government is unwilling to protect basic freedom of conscience when it comes to religious faith, then it is unlikely to tolerate political free-thinking either. In contrast, persuading repressive governments to carve out room for religious worship and practice may act as an important step in creating protected personal space.

Unfortunately, many nations violate this idea. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issues an annual report summarizing the state of religious liberty around the globe. It makes for sober reading.

The USCIRF recently highlighted 27 nations. It recommended that the State Department designate 13 nations, those responsible for "particularly severe" violations of religious liberty, as "countries of particular concern" (CPCs). The Commission named another 11 states to its "Watch List" for engaging in "serious violations" and thus deserving close monitoring. Another three were cited for tolerating abuses and thus were deemed to warrant attention. The State Department tends to follow most USCIRF recommendations, but often with a political twist: in January it provided waivers for Saudi Arabia, America's number one source of oil, and Uzbekistan, seen by Washington as an important military partner.

The Commission's recommended CPCs are Burma, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

Burma (or Myanmar) is a top contender on anyone's list of most misgoverned lands. Conditions have worsened over the past year. The Commission reported: "Burma's military regime continued its policy of severely restricting religious practice, monitoring the activity of all religious organizations, and perpetuating or tolerating violence against religious leaders and their communities." Largely Christian ethnic groups, such as the Karen and Karenni, continue to suffer in a war which has raged for decades in eastern Burma.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea likely is worse. Observed the USCIRF: "there is little evidence that the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion exists in North Korea." The regime uses government-controlled religious federations to advance its political objectives. Alas, "anyone discovered engaging in clandestine religious practice faces official discrimination, arrest, imprisonment, and possibly execution."

Eritrea is another top persecutor. That government, explained the Commission, "continues to engage in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom." Most at risk are members of faiths outside of the four officially recognized religions: Sunni Islam, and Coptic, Catholic, and Evangelical Christian. Some of the violations of religious freedom reflect an attempt to protect the Coptic Church, which has links to the government, from new evangelical and Pentecostal denominations.

Iran is one of the great Islamic persecutors. The USCIRF reported that "The government of Iran continues to engage in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, including prolonged detention, torture, and executions based primarily or entirely upon the religion of the accused." Unfortunately, just as political freedom is being circumscribed, religious liberty has been deteriorating. At particular risk are Baha'is, Sufi Muslims, and evangelical Christians. The situation likely will grow worse as the regime's political base shrinks, forcing it to increasingly rely on force to survive.

One of the greatest--and most tragic--ironies of the Iraq war is that through it Washington set in motion the destruction of the historic Christian community in that ancient land. Noted the Commission, "particularly since 2006, there have been alarming numbers of religiously-motivated killings, abductions, beatings, rapes, threats, intimidation, forced resettlements, and attacks on religious leaders, pilgrims, and holy sites." Everyone is vulnerable, especially during violent surges, but religious minorities, particularly Christians, Sabean Manaeans, and Yazidis, are at greatest risk.

Communal violence in Nigeria is common, yet, warned the USCIRF, "The response of the government Nigeria to persistent religious freedom violations and violent sectarian and communal conflicts along religious lines has been inadequate and ineffectual." Additional problems include "the expansion of sharia (Islamic law) into the criminal codes of several northern Nigerian states; and discrimination against minority communities of Christians and Muslims."

Pakistan, one of the American government's most important allies, is home to what the Commission termed "the largely unchecked growth in the power and reach of religiously-motivated extremist groups." However, religious persecution precedes recent events. Discriminatory laws are in place and, reported the USCIRF: "Sectarian and religiously-motivated violence continues, particularly against Shi'a Muslims, Ahmadis, Christians, and Hindus, and the government's response continues to be insufficient, and in some cases, is outright complicit."

Although religious repression has ebbed since the days of the Cultural Revolution, the People's Republic of China "engages in systematic and egregious violations of the freedom of religion or belief," explained the Commission. There is a "growing 'zone of toleration' for religious worship and charitable activities," but the authorities continue to attempt to maintain control of religious practice. Step outside of the narrow prescribed limits, and "some religious adherents were detained, imprisoned, fined, beaten, and harassed."

Saudi Arabia, noted for its suppression of political dissent and women's rights, also is essentially totalitarian when it comes to religious worship. Despite promises of reform, the royal government "persists in banning all forms of public religious expression other than that of the government's own interpretation of one school of Sunni Islam and even interferes with private religious practice." According to the Commission, the regime also "continues to be involved in supporting activities globally that promote an extremist ideology, and in some cases, violence toward non-Muslims and disfavored Muslims."

During Sudan's civil war, which lasted until 2005, the regime in Khartoum, explained the USCIRF, was "the world's most violent abuser of the right to freedom of religion or belief." Even today "The government of Sudan commits egregious and systematic violations of freedom of religion or belief in the areas under its control."

Although repression in Turkmenistan has eased since the death of President Saparmurat Niyazov, the Commission cited the government for "its systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom." Indeed, religious practice was virtually banned as Niyazov's personality cult expanded.

Another problem Central Asian republic is Uzbekistan. Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union, reported the USCIRF, "fundamental human rights, including freedom of religion or belief, have been under assault." Backed by a willingness to arrest dissenters, the government "severely limits the ability of religious communities to function and facilitates the Uzbek government's exercise of a high degree of control over religious communities and the approved manner in which the Islamic religion is practiced."

There has been some progress in Vietnam, leading the Bush administration to lift the "country of particular concern" designation in 2006, as part of Congress' approval of that nation's entry in the World Trade Organization. Yet, observed the Commission, "Individuals continue to be imprisoned or detained for reasons related to their religious activity or religious freedom advocacy; policy and government officials are not held fully accountable for abuses; independent religious activity remains illegal; and legal protections for government-approved religious organizations are both vague and subject to arbitrary or discriminatory interpretations based on political factors." Further, repression continues apace for some smaller religious groups.

These are merely the worst persecutors. The Commission placed on its Watch List Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Laos, Russia, Somalia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Venezuela.

Conditions have been worsening in Afghanistan with the resurgence of the Taliban. The government of Belarus has systematically violated human rights since it emerged from the break-up of the Soviet Union. The Castro regime in Cuba treats religious organizations as a threat to its authority. Discrimination and violence against Coptic Christians and "non-conforming Muslims" is rife in Egypt. Indonesia has made progress towards democracy, but violence against religious minorities has increased, often with the acquiescence or even tacit support of the authorities.

In Laos, reported the USCIRF, "there have been arrests, detentions, forced renunciations of faith, and forced evictions from villages." The Putin/Medvedev regime has expanded state control over religious groups in Russia. There is no effective government in Somalia, where "radical interpretations of Islam are increasingly manifested." Attacks on religious liberty have been growing more serious in Tajikistan. Turkey limits the practice of Islam and discriminates against non-Muslim faiths. In Venezuela President Hugo Chavez's increasingly authoritarian tendencies have, warned the Commission, "created an environment where Jewish and Catholic religious leaders and institutions are at risk of attack."

Finally, the USCIRF pointed to Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, and Sri Lanka as worthy of scrutiny. All have hosted threats to religious liberty and sometimes tolerated violence against religious believers.

Although Washington cannot make fighting religious persecution a central element of U.S. foreign policy, it can include religious liberty as an essential aspect of its promotion of human rights. In particular, any dialogue with Muslim governments concerned about the treatment of Islam in the West should include a discussion of how those same regimes treat Jews, Christians, Baha'is, and other religious minorities. If the authorities in other nations are unwilling to protect the most basic freedom of conscience regarding religious faith, they are unlikely to be reliable defenders of broader political and civil liberties.

Modiba: King Sunny Ade Tours "New America"

2009-09-03T18:14:38Z

This is HuffPost World's regular feature that highlights interesting musicians and musical trends around the world. Know of a great musician doing ground-breaking work outside the United States? Send us your ideas for bands to profile or up-and-coming musicians to follow. Please fill out this survey form.

by Sam Bathrick

After King Sunny Ade's performance at the Beacon Theatre in 1987, New York Times reporter Jon Pareless, in a fit of post-show glee, described the 17-piece ensemble as "The James Brown band in a triple exposure."

King Sunny is a sovereign in the Nigerian music world and staple in any world music diet. But those who have had the honor of seeing him live on stage tend to recall other-worldly delights. Drumming up support for his latest release, Seven Degrees North (Blue Moon / Mesa), the label aptly dubbed his summer excursion "The Chairman's Diplomatic Tour of a New America."

On brief rest after a fourth of July show with Femi Kuti at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, the reigning King of Juju held court with me over a shaky hotel phone line. I asked him what kind of diplomatic challenges a chairman might be facing in New America.

"Over here I have to package it," he said of his stage-sprawling act, which condenses Nigeria's all-night performance experience into a large venue-friendly 40-minute jam. "But it's the same. If you come for one hour or two, we want you to get what you're supposed to get in ten."

What you're supposed to get -- those other-worldly delights -- can be found in the intimate connection he forms with his audience, a point of pride for an artist whose international listeners do not speak the dialect of his poetry.

"I call the audience to respond, to sing along with me, and I tell them the meaning of what I want them to sing," he told me. "We all have a language we can dance to."

Over the years critics have praised King Sunny for resisting the temptation to Europeanize or
Americanize his sound. After Island Records billed him as the "African Bob Marley," he
famously split in the mid-80s when the label proposed revamping his sound to stay relevant in the increasingly profitable World Music niche. Arguably one of the few African musicians who has managed to stay dry in an industry in which a bit of watering down never hurt sales, King Sunny forged his legacy in the blissful shuffle of all-night parties. Thus, his nickname in Nigeria: The Minister of Enjoyment.

This summer, The Minister came to meet a New America, a land drastically transformed since his first excursions here in the late 70s. I asked him if he ever thought then that he would see the election of an American president of African descent.

"Life changes, the world changes," he said laughing. "The whole world is turning round, turning round, turning round..."

The tour was a special treat for his North American fans, who waited quite a few rotations of the earth for the re-release of Seven Degrees North. The album had been off the market since Blue Moon/Mesa's distributor V2 collapsed shortly after the original release in 2000. Strong on Seven Degrees, King Sunny delivers his unique brand of dance-floor medleys, layering his silky tenor musings over pedaled steel guitar and instantly danceable Yoruban percussion. North American Fans hoping for another Juju Music (Island, 1982) will be disappointed, but they shouldn't be. The first taste remains the sweetest, but this one's sweet too.

I asked King Sunny what he thinks about the growing trend in electronic music and synth-sampling in West Africa, for which laying down a bell pattern, drum, or horn line no longer requires a musician's weathered touch. Speaking momentarily for a generation of grandfathers around the world, he confessed to me, "The computer, its something that we're looking at as a wild dog that's going to bite you. You just have to tame it first."

Of course, as in all things music, King Sunny speaks here from experience. As head of the Nigerian Musicians Union, he successfully advocated for legislation establishing intellectual property rights for musicians and prohibiting piracy. Watching his performance at Prospect Park in Brooklyn this summer, one thing became especially clear: there can be no computer simulation of the intangible elements the King and his band conjure up in real time. The Minister of Enjoyment can hang his hat on that.

On that particular balmy Brooklyn evening in Prospect Park, his trademark bird-like posture and masterful conducting were on full display. He took his time with the crowd of 10,000, building musical layers only to pull out the rug on cue, exposing the phonemes of intricate conversational percussion grooves. With talking drummers strapped for movement and the whole band attending to choreographic cues, I remembered why he told me he's not concerned with the digital take-over.

"My band can walk with you. The music we play, we move with you. You cannot move with a computer."

As is characteristic of Nigerian Yoruba social-circle music from which he draws and administers influence, KSA's message remains one of proverbial praise.

"Sometimes I praise God for what he has been doing. Sometimes I praise those who have been working hard for their communities, doing good things for ordinary people."

This type of musical reciprocation can be found in upscale Nigerian social scenes, where praise-singers entertain socialites and businessmen, who in turn "spray" the singers with cash bills. Though Juju incorporates many elements from this built-in patronage model, including the voluble Yoruban bàtá drum, the practice of spraying was noticeably absent from The Chairman's Diplomatic Tour. Recently, a group of Nigerian politicians successfully moved to ban spraying from live music acts on the basis of its overt public extravagance. And since many citizens of New America associate the showering of dollar bills with the arenas of strip clubs and dog fights, perhaps the King and his royal PR team simply chose to avoid a lost in translation moment. It is, he says, the audience's pleasure that matters most.

"I keep on doing what I do and the more you love what I do, I'll keep on doing it because I want to satisfy you. I want to give you my best and I believe my best has yet to come."

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Nigeria Nearing Failed State Status, Say Local Lawyers

2009-08-18T12:24:39Z

The head of Nigeria's leading lawyers' association has said the country is "gliding toward being a failed state".

Michael Watts: Nigeria at a Tipping Point

2009-08-12T17:17:56Z

As Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and her entourage arrives this week in Abuja, the bright new capital of the Nigeria, their hosts will try to put the best face on what is the gravest political crisis the country has faced since their civil war ended almost four decades ago. The uninspired government of President Musa Yar' Adua, who took office in 2007 on the back of elections massively fraudulent even by Nigeria's appallingly low standards, faces a dual political crisis. In the oil-producing Niger delta a long simmering military insurgency has crippled the oil and gas industry which accounts for over 80% of government income and virtually all of Nigeria's export revenues. A counter-insurgency by federal forces launched in May 2009 produced a ferocious response by the insurgents including in July an audacious attack on key oil installations in Lagos, the economic capital of the country.

In the north of Nigeria, the Muslim heartland and the home-base of the powerful ruling northern oligarchy, a Taliban-styled Islamist group -- Boko Haram -- was brutally repressed by government security forces in early August. Heavy bombardment of the movement's compound resulted in large numbers of casualties, and culminated in the extra-judicial killing of the movement's leader Mohammed Yusuf in Maiduguri at the hands of the police. Two key economic and political regions of the Nigerian federation are in effect under lockdown. After two years of drift and serial ineptitude, Nigeria now stands at a tipping point.

Nigeria is an oil-rich petro-state but its developmental record in one of catastrophic failure. According to IMF, the $700 billion in oil revenues since 1960 have added almost nothing to the standard of living of the average Nigerian. More than three-quarters of oil revenues accrue to one percent of the population; a huge proportion of the country's oil wealth, perhaps 40% or more, has been stolen.

The coastal waters of Nigeria, according to the International Maritime Bureau, are a pirate-haven, comparable to the lawless seas of Somalia and the Maluccas. A new report Transnational Trafficking and the Rule of Law in West Africa by the UN Office for Drugs and Crime estimates that 55 million barrels of oil are stolen ('bunkered') each year from the Niger delta. Amnesty International's report Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta released in June 2009 grimly inventories the environmental disaster caused by 1.5 million tons of spilled oil, describing the results of the slick alliance between international oil companies and the Nigerian state as a "human rights tragedy".

The turn from peaceful non-violence of the sort advocated by the famous Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa to armed struggle, culminated in the dramatic appearance in late 2005 of a new group -- the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) -- who launched a frontal attack on oil installation in the name of 'resource control' and a 'new federalism'. In three years they have in effect brought the oil industry to a standstill. Oil production has collapsed, (at least a million barrels a day are shut-in). Shell, the largest single operator, has closed its Western operations entirely, and its Eastern operations are barely functional. The head of Nigeria's Central Bank recently concluded that the country's economic future now turns on the resolution of the Niger delta crisis.

The federal government has failed conspicuously to grasp the gravity of political sentiments across the multi-ethnic oilfields. A 2007 World Bank study discovered that an astonishing 36.23% of youth interviewed revealed a "willingness or propensity to take up arms against the state". Government sees the problem almost wholly in term of criminality. But history teaches us that any insurgency is a complex mix of greed and grievance -- and one person's criminal or terrorist is another's liberation fighter. A 2009 survey poll reveals that local communities have no faith whatsoever in state and local governments. Their experience is one of exclusion, neglect and organized theft. This is no less the case with Boko Haram, a movement whose anti-Western sentiments speak powerfully to a generation of young Muslims for whom modern development and education has brought poverty, unemployment and a radical souring towards secular national development.

President Yar 'Adua announced an amnesty plan for Niger delta militants on June 25 and released Henry Okah, an important leader MEND leader, on July 13, 2009. Good news in principle. But the amnesty is simply an opportunity to address root problems as Okah put it. And there is precious little in the offing right now. Secretary Clinton arrives, therefore, at a crucial moment. Another failure of will by the government could prove to be catastrophic. MEND's ceasefire ends on September 15th. Something bold has to happen soon.

Secretary Clinton should highlight two important opportunities. First, the Nigerian senate is in the middle of debating a new petroleum bill capable of addressing some of the core concerns of Niger delta activists. Already there are signs that the new bill will ignore the voices of the oil communities. Second, the government commissioned a forty-three person Technical Committee to provide a strategy for the future of the Niger delta. The report has languished since its release in November 2008 in spite of the fact that it contains a clear blueprint for moving forward. Here at least is a place to start.

Sarah Dotlich: Clinton in Nigeria: A Moment of Opportunity

2009-08-12T16:37:39Z

When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua on Wednesday August 12, she will discuss what we at Justice In Nigeria Now, a San Francisco based solidarity organization think are some of the most important and interconnected issues facing the country today: electoral integrity, corruption and the Niger Delta. We hope she sends a strong message that reform in all three areas is necessary for Nigeria to continue functioning as a State and to continue as a key U.S. ally.

Nigeria is known for its fraudulent elections and politicians who employ armed thugs to ensure votes are cast in their favor. The Nigerian government faces a crisis of credibility that has the potential to become volatile, if members of minority communities and residents of the politically disenfranchised economic engine of the Delta continue to feel that they do not have any real power or say in their own governance. In fact, the armed insurgency that gained world attention by disrupting oil operations in the Delta has its roots in the gangs armed by political candidates. Electoral integrity and the ability for all citizens of Nigeria's democracy to participate meaningfully should be high on Secretary Clinton's agenda.

Legendary for its high levels of corruption, Nigeria must institute real reform. For those living in the Niger Delta, corruption means that the majority live in poverty while the approximately $700 billion in oil revenues earned over the last fifty years was split between the Nigerian government and the oil companies, with which the government partners. Although the Nigerian government claims to send a small percentage of its oil revenues to the communities where it is extracted, and although oil companies claim to provide local community benefits, the majority of those living in the Delta's oil producing communities live on less than $1 per day and have seen their living standards decline over the years. Secretary Clinton must insist that the Nigerian government institute measures to ensure greater transparency and accountability, which are critical to ensuring that the country's revenues benefit the many and don't just line the pockets of a few. Ultimately, U.S. businesses will also find it easier to operate in a less corrupt environment.

The Niger Delta and its oil resources fuel the Nigerian treasury, which depends upon oil for 80% of government revenue. The oil of the Delta is important to both countries. In 2006, more then 40% of Nigeria's oil was exported to the U.S. and it represented 15% of the U.S. supply. However, a political militancy has reduced Nigerian output for the last few years. Output has been even more dramatically reduced since May of this year when militants began blowing up oil installations in reprisal for an ongoing series of attacks by the Nigerian military claiming to be rooting out militants, but destroyed local villages and displaced, killed and injured innocent civilians who still cannot return home. The political militancy of the last five years arose after 45 years of peaceful protest by villagers yielded no major improvements for local communities whose quality of life was decimated. When Secretary Clinton meets with President Yar'Adua it is imperative to U.S. economic and energy security, to the stability of Nigeria and to the lives of those who live in the Delta that she urge President Umaru Yar'Adua to:

Withdraw the Nigerian military forces from the Niger Delta and institute an official ceasefire;

Initiate third party monitored diplomatic talks that include all stakeholders;

Allow free and unfettered access to all parts of the Delta by journalists, humanitarian aid groups and human rights organizations;

Make real investments in the development of the Niger Delta and rebuild villages destroyed by the recent military attacks.

Electoral integrity, transparency and accountability and addressing the root cause of the troubles in the Niger Delta are interconnected issues that we applaud the Obama administration for publicly stating are on its agenda. JINN hopes that in her discussions regarding the Niger Delta that Secretary Clinton recognizes the imperative of seeking long term solutions that will meet the real needs of villagers in oil producing communities while once again increasing production output and oil revenues.

This piece was co-written by Laura Livoti, Founder, Justice In Nigeria Now

Clinton In Nigeria: US Elections, Like In 2000, Have Problems Too (VIDEO)

2009-08-12T16:31:51Z

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, during a visit to Nigeria today, made a comparison between the elections in Nigeria and the United States, saying that during the 2000 election between George Bush and Al Gore there were "problems."

Watch Rick Sanchez on CNN discuss it here:

More on Clinton's trip to Nigeria from the AP:

ABUJA, Nigeria — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday said corruption has undermined the legitimacy of Nigeria's government and urged the oil-rich nation to embrace broad political reform and ease sectarian tensions.

In the Nigerian capital of Abuja on the fifth stop in a seven-nation tour Africa, Clinton told an audience of Nigerian civic activists that a culture of corruption and incompetence has hobbled Nigeria's ability to grow as an economic power and benefit its deprived citizens.

"The most immediate source of the disconnect between Nigeria's wealth and its poverty is a failure of governance at the federal, state and local level," she said.

Clinton said Nigeria's "lack of transparency and accountability has eroded the legitimacy of the government and contributed to the rise of groups that embrace violence and reject the authority of the state."

She cited a recent World Bank report that said Nigeria has lost more than $300 billion to corruption and mismanagement over the past three decades. And she said that reform can only come by "fixing Nigeria's flawed election system."

Clinton raised the possibility that if Nigeria showed strong signs of change, it could lead to its entry into the G-20 nations, providing a voice in global economic and political decision-making.

During an earlier news conference, Clinton expressed concern about tensions that have led to sectarian violence and disrupted energy production in the Niger Delta. She said the Nigerian government needed to take action to protect its status as the continent's largest oil producer and top recipient of American investment.

"We strongly support and encourage the government of Nigeria's efforts to increase transparency, reduce corruption (and) provide support for democratic processes in preparation for the 2011 elections," Clinton told a news conference after meeting Nigerian Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe.

Some reformers cautioned that the Nigerian administration has done little to counter its culture of corruption.

Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim, head of the Centre for Democracy and Development, a Nigerian think tank, said, "Things have gone down rather than up in the fight against corruption since this government came into power."

Ibrahim said Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the government's anti-corruption watchdog, has been less progressive about pursuing cases and audits on the country's oil industry were running four years behind.

U.S. officials regard Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, as a bellwether for the continent's success. They have grown worried about the coup-prone country's political situation, especially after 2007 elections were marred by fraud.

Maduekwe insisted there was a "national consensus on issues of enhanced democracy, a deep commitment to rule of law and electoral reforms" and pledged that President Umaru Yar'Adua's government would deliver on reform.

Nigeria is the fifth largest supplier of oil to the United States and U.S. officials are also troubled by unrest and kidnappings in the Niger Delta, where indigenous groups have complained vehemently about exploitation of oil reserves by foreign petroleum companies.

Violence in the region has led to cuts in production that in June led to Angola surpassing Nigeria in monthly oil production.

To deal with the situation, Yar'Adua has offered militants in the Niger Delta amnesty if they turn in their arms, register and take part in reintegration programs.

Maduekwe said the offer, which took effect earlier this month, was the result of a realization that military might was not quelling the unrest. He claimed the week-old amnesty offer had already succeeded in improving oil production levels.

Clinton said the amnesty approach was "very promising" and said Washington would look at ways it might be able to assist. She added that she wanted to help ensure that "money from the earth and its riches should be spent on the people" of Nigeria and other African nations.

However, an amnesty held under the previous administration failed to halt the violence. Some analysts say instability will continue as long as corruption, pollution and poverty remain unaddressed by the government.

U.S. officials are concerned by a recent explosion of sectarian violence sparked by the killing of the head of the militant Islamist Boko Haram sect that left more than 700 people dead in the mainly Muslim north.

The emergence of Boko Haram – which is translated as "Western education is sacrilege" and seeks the imposition of strict Islamic Shariah law in secular Nigeria – has led to fears of the spread of Islamist extremism in the country.

Clinton declined to offer an opinion on the government's actions during the violence that began after sect members attacked a police station and the death in apparent custody of the group's leader, but said there was "no doubt" that Islamist extremists wanted to expand their influence in Africa.

___

Associated Press writer Katharine Houreld in Lagos, Nigeria, contributed to this report.

Nigeria Email Scammers Work Extra Hard In Recession

2009-08-07T12:07:24Z

Online swindling takes dedication even in the best of times, the scammer said earnestly.

The spinal cord aches from sitting at a desk. The eyes itch from staring at a computer.

Mamadou Tandja, Nigerian President, Claims Massive Victory

2009-08-07T10:42:34Z

Niger's president has overwhelmingly won a referendum that will allow him to stay in power beyond the end of his second term in office, results show.

Mohammed Yusuf's Death To Be Investigated: Nigeria

2009-08-05T09:29:45Z

ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria's president has ordered an investigation into the killing of the leader of an radical Islamist sect behind nearly a week of violence that left more than 700 people dead.

President Umaru Yar'Adua said he also has ordered the national security adviser to arrange a post-mortem on Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf.