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The Economist assesses the current situation in Central Africa via a short review of From Genocide to Continental War and Rene Lemarchand's recent book The Dynamics of Violence in Central Africa (which i also recommend as fascinating if, at times, a little dry).

NYT review: Prunier has a reputation as a maverick historian. A research professor at the University of Paris and the director of the French Center for Ethiopian Studies in Addis Ababa, he has written not only about Rwanda but about Darfur, too. Probably the best way to read him is to assume...

A "really important searing book" or "literary excrement"? Just come across a very critical review of Prunier's book by retired US army officer Tom P. Odom writing at SmallWarsJournal: let me just say that as a participant in some of the events described in this book, I found numerous errors...

Scott: i think this lengthy exerpt from Prunier's book kinda addresses your question: The Great Lakes or "Congolese" conflict resembles the European Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), in which looting was one of the fundamental activities of the contending armies. Even when they are relatively...

Martin Shaw - expert on genocide analyses recent trends in Sri Lanka: The civil war in Sri Lanka is receding from the international headlines, as crises in Iran and celebrity deaths occupy the media's limited space and attention-span. A very large number of its Tamil victims are still, more...

This is totally true Zhao. However, as Prunier makes plain, the connection is not as straightforward as it may perhaps seem: Let me be clear: the Rwandese genocide and its consequences did not cause the implosion of the Congo basin and its periphery. It acted as a catalyst, precipitating a...

Buy it, read it!! Brilliant, confusing and horrifying in roughly equal measures. Disects the rationales and logics at play and provides a surgical indictment of all the parties involved - both proximate and distant - for their complicity in the (often gruesome) deaths of millions. A nice light...

Khamenei speaks...

again....? what did he do (apart from argue some pretty daft points very vociferously)?

Mr Tea OTM!

I take on board what you're saying, although i am wary of making such broad generalisations on the basis of one historical form of criminal org/gang - i.e. the Italian mafia in this case. It seems very likely that there will be wide variation in the way criminal networks structure themselves...

But are the internal relations of the state (as an organisational structure) defined by coercive violence? I don’t think this is the case. Politicians and bureaucrats (in 'Western' democratic states) are sacked for not towing the party line; sacked for “under-performance” or as scapegoats in the...

Not sure that is the necessarily the case. Yes there will be bosses and lieutenants (or whatever) but this is likely to be far less rigid and formalised than the bureaucratic structures of state departments, offices, parliaments etc. Worth having a look at these i reckon...

I reckon this paragraph from your link supports my point about the normative framework of anarchy being a matter of perspective: While i have some sympathies towards an anarchist approach, I know many people who i think would identify with anarchy as "disorder or misrule" and wouldn't perhaps...

John: the link you posted ain't working. Interested to know what it is -- any chance of a re-post? Ta. [EDIT: sorry bout the x-post] Would you say that anarchist groups and criminal syndicates differ in both normative framework and organisational/institutional structure? In normative terms...

Stating the obvious but Hatton needs to learn how to defend himself. Or remember to do it rather than losing his head and walking onto punches. Reckon he'll quit -- not much left for him now cos i can't see another shot at one of the best coming along. What about the Mayweather vs Marquez fight...

Nucleus -- our choice of metaphors to describe the world around us is instructive in this regard. For the last few centuries the use of architectural metaphors - i.e. foundations, pillars, structures, etc - to depict the nature of things has been very powerful. This is a substantive way of...

cantankerous.... especially good when followed with bastard or cunt

Hizbollah in Africa I had no idea about Hizbollah's operations in Africa and its ties to the trade in "blood diamonds": Looks like the conflict with Israel has the potential to spill-over into Africa if this report is anything to go by:

More generally though, Porto were excellent; their three attackers - Rodriguez, Lopez and the 'Hulk' were a total handful, a lot of direct running and clever link play. I think they deserved to go in at half time at least two goals clear. And in the second half when Utd upped their game a bit...