Association of Concerned Africa Scholars
Analysis and Action on Policies Impacting Africa

Activist Scholarship (1988)

By James H. Mittleman | February 2009

What should Western-based movements do to facilitate African liberation? There are several important measures. One is opposition to military build-ups. Another is lobbying for the conversion of armaments expenditure to investment in genuine development efforts. Similarly, pressure on Western governments to adopt a non-interventionist policy in countries undergoing fundamental structural change is essential. But policy makers do not usually act against the interests of the groups that put them in power. To ask capitalists to refrain from expansionism is to ask them to cease being capitalists. This is not to suggest that tactical decisions are predetermined. Surely the anti-war movement influenced the U.S. decision to withdraw from Vietnam. Nonetheless, it is not enough to stop Western states from interfering in Africa.

United States and other major powers still doggedly refuse to negotiate their lifestyles.

By James H. Mittleman | October 2008

Writing about the current financial debacle, Thomas L. Friedman holds that in a globalizing world, “we are all partners now.” He hopes that “globalization will saveth.” More than 20 years ago, a global commission headed by Willy Brandt, the former chancellor of West Germany, called for a partnership in international development. What have been the results?

After the Vetoes on Zimbabwe: What’s the Next Step?

By James H. Mittleman | July 2008

Now that efforts to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe and regional mediation have failed to topple the Mugabe regime, what are the alternatives?

Washington Post: How to Handle Dictators

By James H. Mittleman | June 2008

In a June 22 Outlook commentary, “The Only Answer to the Mugabes of the World May Be a Coup,” Paul Collier advocated encouraging coups to topple dictators and achieve “improved governance” in “such sad little states as Zimbabwe and Burma.”