There is a strange situation in the world. America is riding tall even though it is only one event from a catastrophic fall. Consider the geo-political environment. If Germany had broken loose from the Western alliance and decided to join hands with Russia then US dominance would collapse overnight. Russia and Germany would be a great power actually greater in a short time than the US. Russia and Germany would be beyond US military intimidation. This would be Mackinder’s…

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Ndlovu-Gatsheni writes: ‘Wole Soyinka’s widely cited injunction against Négritude, ‘a tiger does not proclaim its tigritude, it pounces’ (Ischinger 1974, 23), suffers miserably from ahistoricity. If the tiger’s essence or being as a tiger was questioned and renamed derogatively as an ant or something similar, it would definitely be forced to proclaim its tigritude (its essence or being) as part of its resistance and defensive self-constitution.’ 1 Soyinka’s famous phrase is widely misunderstood. I am not fussed about the…

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Sometimes the worst insult is the one you don’t know you are giving. Moscow Times gives the final insult to Russia. Russia is a major global power and a democracy. Russia has been on the receiving end of US’s complete disdain and disrespect. It has also  been on the receiving end of complete lack of sincerity in negotiations, with the US believing it has no obligation to commit to previous agreements. It is strange and important that no one…

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David Olusoga is a well-known British presenter cum historian. But he is a problem. There needs to be some serious analysis.  The immediate issue is his show ‘Africa Turns the Page’. As a history of African literature this is a disaster. He has neither a historical understanding nor literary understanding. When he talks about the history of a period there is no sense of time and place in his narrative.  His basic temporality is all upside down making Soyinka…

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Alex Mercouris has revealed himself as a soft racist in his video on ‘A New Europe ’  1. I write this with some sorrow. I do not consider it on the basis of his saying something negative about immigrants (frankly who cares?) but on the basis of his deliberate distortion of the facts, and his inflammatory insinuations. Lets start with the most simple statement. His statement that migration is causing increasing cultural stresses  in Britain  is an amazing statement….

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It is written in Ignatius Loyola’s autobiography: ‘While he journeyed on, a Saracen mounted on a horse came up with him. In the  course of the conversation mention was made of the Blessed Virgin. The stranger  remarked that though he admitted that the Mother of Christ had conceived without  detriment to her virginal purity, yet he could not believe that after the conception of  her divine Son she was still a virgin. He was so obstinate in holding this…

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One of the great mysteries for many is the incoherence of Nigeria despite its brilliant people. To unravel this mystery we must first start with an understanding of ‘fifth column’. Britannica’s definition is as follows: ‘fifth column, clandestine group or faction of subversive agents who attempt to undermine a nation’s solidarity by any means at their disposal‘. (see note 1) Mola is credited with inventing the concept of ‘fifth column’ during the Spanish Civil War. see note 2: ‘In October 1936,…

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Blouin and Kennedy have written about the current controversy regarding Cleopatra as a Black Pharaoh.1 It will be argued that they have engaged in massive misdirection and are false friends. 1  Misrepresenting Afrocentrism: Afro-centrism: there is a great tendency to ascribe to ‘Afrocentrism’ any silly idea the commentator may have. Dr Amro Ali states: ‘ spare a thought for the previous six unfortunate Cleopatras who ruled Egypt and yet no Egyptian, Greek, Macedonian or Afrocentricist ever mentions them or…

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Paul Craig Roberts has performed an amazing tour de force. He has modernised the defence of apartheid and anti-semitism.1 Why should his defence of apartheid be important? The reason is because it has taken root among young academic members of the far right, who camouflage their true identity with its unusual arguments. It is used to justify racial oppression with new arguments. His key argument starts: ‘Why is racial separation worse than class separation? Why does one get legal…

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Contemporary African intellectuals are playing a large role in the underdevelopment of Africa. Put more clearly, the failure of contemporary African intellectuals  has played a major role in the underdevelopment of contemporary Africa. In the pre-Independnece period, there were many African intellectuals whose instinct was to be entirely sceptical about any aspects of the Western narrative. This scepticism can be seen in how Eric Williams made the effort to look at the pattern of the British slave trade, how…

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