Adekeye Adebajo
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/ 12 September 2005

Still a dialogue of the deaf

Fifteen years ago, Kenyan political scientist Ali Mazrui described the relationship between the United States and the Third World as a ”dialogue of the deaf”. Mazrui noted that Americans are brilliant communicators but bad listeners. This view aptly highlights the difficulties the US faced in seeking to win support at the United Nations for its controversial invasion of Iraq in 2003.

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/ 15 July 2005

Of fading rock stars and little else

The Live 8 campaign by Bob Geldof, the narcissistic fading rock star, ”to make poverty history” was naively admirable but also somewhat disturbing to watch. Here was a dynamic individual who was helping to perpetuate the stereotype of the ”dark continent” as a helpless place of poverty and disease which the white musical missionaries of a new age would help to overcome.

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/ 23 May 2005

UN reform needs an African perspective

Western pundits have dominated the debate on United Nations reform, while African leaders have not focused attention on these crucial efforts. A group of civil society leaders from the continent tried to remedy this when we met in New York and thrashed out an African civil society response to the December 2004 report A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility.

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/ 30 April 2004

Rethinking a continent: From Nkrumah to Mbeki

The Kenyan political scientist, Ali Mazrui, was the intellectual father of the concept of Pax Africana in the 1960s. The idea is simple: Africans should, through their own efforts, consolidate, establish and enforce peace on their own continent. In the post-apartheid era, Pax Africana needs to be redefined to fit the needs of a new age, writes Adekeye Adebajo.