President of France, King of Africa?
Francois Hollande want French-African relations to be transparent. Is this a new African policy or the old FrançAfrique?
33 Articles by:
Gregory Mann
Gregory Mann is an historian of West Africa.
Kickstarter Must be Strong Stuff
When Deacon, a member of the band Animal Collective went to Mali to make an album and … to end slavery.
What Happened to the African Renaissance?
Last week’s assaults on the tombs of saints, scholars and prominent ancestors in Timbuktu punctuated a long, leaden moment in Mali’s crisis.
Suffering and Smiling
Mali’s rebel armies, their shifting alliances and their fans make for quite a spectacle.
Mali: Soldiers Acting Like Children
It’s very hard to figure out what the soldiers who took power in a coup in Mali, have in store for the country. Or if they even have a plan.
The Other African Election: Sarkozy K.O.’d
What does all that mean for French-African politics? It’s hard to tell what will next emerge from that fetid swamp.
Don’t Talk About Somebody’s Mama
Malians have little patience for Amadou Toumani Touré, Mali’s former president, deposed in a coup on 22 March.
The Other African election: France’s First Round
Both of the front-runners, incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist François Hollande, have run against FrançAfrique. Easier said than done.
Why is so much coverage of the Mali crisis so bad?
We mean the kind of bad that comes from being caught in a Beckettian loop of either saying nothing at all or having nothing to say.
The War in Mali’s North–To What Effect?
The rebels–that is, the MNLA and their disavowed and dangerous allies–hold Mali hostage.
Bamako-sur-Seine
A sense of how the Malian diaspora experiences the political tensions and instability back home.
The Racial Politics of Tuareg Nationalism
Historian Greg Mann is not a big fan of Tuareg group, Tinariwen. The music is alright, he agrees, but the politics is rancid.
Mali’s Democracy–Down but not out
Is the adoption of a new constitution by Mali’s military regime a starting point for getting the soldiers back under civilian rule? Let’s game this out a little bit.
Mali’s Coup–‘Politics is Bad’
The idea that because the coup happened, it’s no longer worth taking positions on it is wrong-headed and dangerous. We should ask why, and why now.
Mali’s coup—First Thoughts
A few things are worth saying about the mutiny and the coup that rocked Bamako over the last few days.
When You Refuse, You Say No
The intersection of rape, power, and impunity in Guinea has a history that is very recent and very dark.