Michela Wrong
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Articles by Michela Wrong
The dark finale of the second world war
Plunder: The Last of the War in Europe, 1945 HarperCollins, pp.448, 25 When presented with yet another second world war doorstopper by Max Hastings, a reader should be forgiven for wondering what on earth the author can possibly add, given the many titles on the conflict already to his name. The question has, of course, also occurred to Hastings himself, and his answer is refreshingly honest.
Will colonialism’s psychological legacy ever cease to be a source of pain?
Chasing Freedom: Coming of Age at the End of Empire Bodley Head, pp.352, 20 Whenever the legacy of colonialism comes up for debate, a Monty Python sketch springs to mind.
A late Congolese ruler with a new following
At the exit of the National Museum in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is a whiteboard for visitors to leave their comments. On that whiteboard, full of underlinings and exclamation marks, are messages like this: “Thank you for your life.” “Thank you for our national unity.” “You left behind a glorious historical legacy.
Rwanda's covert war in the Congo Original
Over 7,000 dead. Hundreds raped. Displaced people's camps flattened. City centers looted. Prisons set ablaze. Businesses bankrupted. Nearly 5 million people on the move. The latest conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has brought horrific violence and suffering to innocent people for three and a half years. The war flared upin November 2021, when the March 23 Movement rebel group attacked military positions on the border between Congo and Rwanda.
The danger of becoming a ‘professional survivor’
The Convoy Open Borders, pp.288, 18.99 It was a relatively minor episode in a period marked by the killing of two African presidents, months of massacres in churches, schools and sports stadiums, a biblical exodus by much of the Hutu population, a cholera outbreak in refugee camps established in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and a rebel takeover of the country.
How Far Will Rwanda Go in Congo?
In 1963, nearly three dozen newly independent African nations met in Addis Ababa to establish the Organization of African Unity. Among the core principles they embraced was the inviolability of existing, colonial-era national borders. Failure to uphold them, they agreed, would open the way for one irredentist claim after another and threaten to tear the continent apart.
How Far Will Rwanda Go in Congo?
In 1963, nearly three dozen newly independent African nations met in Addis Ababa to establish the Organization of African Unity. Among the core principles they embraced was the inviolability of existing, colonial-era national borders. Failure to uphold them, they agreed, would open the way for one irredentist claim after another and threaten to tear the continent apart.
Rwandan troops ‘dying in large numbers in DRC’, despite official denials of role
Hundreds of Rwandan troops have been killed during covert operations in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), contradicting claims from Kigali that its soldiers are not involved in the conflict there. Multiple intelligence, military and diplomatic sources say that “very significant” numbers of soldiers from the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) have died supporting an offensive by M23 rebels in DRC.
Looking at Women Looking at War — a chronicle cut short by Putin’s invasion
In late June 2023, a Russian missile strike on the town of Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, hit the pizza restaurant where Victoria Amelina,...
The psychological toll of being constantly tracked and harassed
In late 2018 a Saudi journalist living in exile in Canada, who liked to work out in between recording YouTube critiques of his government, ordered some protein powder online. When a text message landed on Omar Abdulaziz’s smartphone notifying him of a DHL delivery, he clicked on it without hesitating. Unlimited access to spectator.com.au and app The weekly edition on the Spectator Australia app Spectator podcasts and newsletters Full access to spectator.co.uk Or
Never underestimate the complexities of African history
What does it take to bury an outdated argument? The thought occurred while reading Motherland, one of a series of recent books seemingly haunted by the ghost of Hugh Trevor-Roper. Back in 1964, Trevor-Roper, an expert on the English Civil War and the Third Reich, made the mistake of opining on African history. Unlimited access to spectator.com.au and app The weekly edition on the Spectator Australia app Spectator podcasts and newsletters Full access to spectator.co.uk Or
African Arguments
In 2007, eleven African countries, including Nigeria, joined forces to address the blistering desertification challenge in Africa which has worsened in the last decades, in part due to climate change. Under the auspices of the African Union, they launched the Great Green Wall Initiative for the Sahara and Sahel (GGW).
The Best Books on State-Sponsored Assassination
Before we look at your book recommendations, might you outline for us why it’s important to understand the phenomenon of state-sponsored assassinations? It’s important for two main reasons. The first is a more academic reason: in recent weeks and months, various countries have made claims or counter-claims accusing each other of conducting or attempting to conduct assassinations within the territory of another state.
Why Blue Line peace is proving elusive
Naquora, Lebanon Tensions along the forty-nine-mile Blue Line that partitions Israel from Lebanon are as high as they’ve been in recent history. Given the stated objectives of Hezbollah, the powerful Shiite militia that controls Lebanon’s South and the IDF, which seeks to repel them beyond striking distance, that’s saying a lot. Ten thousand sky-blue helmets stand between the warring sides, protecting a division of international troops from the raining debris of intercepted rockets.
Could Putin target the Paris Olympics?
One thing the French seem to be learning (or, given their history, re-learning) is that the Russians are always up for a scrap. A ministerial phone call between the two countries has led to a diplomatic spat such that a stung Emmanuel Macron is now claiming that Moscow plans to target this summer’s Paris Olympics — and he’s probably right. On Wednesday, French defense minister Sébastien Lecornu had a rare phone conversation — the first since 2022 — with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu.
How Scotland’s hate crime act is stifling academic freedom
For the past few days, I’ve been hoping to receive an email from the two universities in Scotland where I’m enrolled in a joint PhD program. So far, though, I’ve not heard from either of them. It seems obvious that all of this is creating a climate of fear and stifling academic discourse Since the war in Gaza broke out, students have received weekly, and sometimes even daily, updates about the conflict.
The nuanced truth of the Rwandan genocide
On Sunday a solemn ceremony takes place in Rwanda’s capital. President Paul Kagame, flanked by international dignitaries will light a flame of remembrance at Kigali’s genocide memorial, where the bones of more than 250,000 people are interred. “Kwibuka” (“Remember” in Kinyarwanda) — this act of commemoration — happens every April. But this time it’s special. It has now been thirty years since the genocide, and is thus an opportunity to assess the tenure of one of Africa’s most controversial leaders.
The truth about the Rwandan genocide
Today a solemn ceremony takes place in Rwanda’s capital. President Paul Kagame, flanked by international dignitaries – including our own development secretary Andrew Mitchell – will light a flame of remembrance at Kigali’s genocide memorial, where the bones of more than 250,000 people are interred. ‘Kwibuka’ (‘Remember’ in Kinyarwanda) – this act of commemoration – happens every April.
The fresh, forceful voice of Frantz Fanon
The Rebel’s Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon Bloomsbury, pp.464, 25 ‘If I’d died in my thirties, what would be left behind?’ is the question that keeps coming to mind reading this timely new biography of Frantz Fanon, the psychiatrist and philosopher who became an icon to leftist revolutionaries across the globe.
In memoriam: Todd S. Ing, MD
On October 24, 2023, we received that sad news that Dr. Todd Ing (Figure 1), a nephrologist and medical scientist who had far reaching impact on the field of nephrology, and especially hemo- and peritoneal dialysis, had passed away. We will not be able to do justice to all or even most of the important aspects of Todd's long and very productive life but have done our best to document Todd's many achievements and impact.
Towards people’s power
Let me start in Tanzania. As Chadema states in its constitution, it sees Tanzania’s history as one of domination. “The ‘people’ of Tanzania,” it states, “have never had a voice, power and authority over” themselves. Instead, “from the colonial era to date,” those things have been vested in “the few people,” in terms that are remarkably reminiscent of radical republican ideas of oligarchic state capture. This history of domination contains a searing critique of Tanzania today.
I criticised Rwanda’s leader - now I wake up screaming after constant online attacks
Paul Kagame understands the value of the visual image. He loves being snapped glad-handing a dignitary at the World Economic Forum in Davos – this month, it was Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. That’s only bettered by posing back home for a selfie with former England footballer Sol Campbell – Kagame sponsors three of Europe’s top teams – who recently named a baby gorilla.
Rwanda’s deadly impact on Congo
Source: Foreign Affairs May/June 2023Published on April 13, 2023 Instead of acknowledging Rwanda’s support for the M23 Movement—named after a March 23, 2009, peace accord its fighters say the Congolese government violated—Kagame reminded his audience about another rebel group operating in eastern Congo, this one led by those responsible for Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.
The Sinews of Sudan’s Latest War
Debating Ideas aims to reflect the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing from within the African continent and beyond. It offers debates and engagements, contexts and controversies, and reviews and responses flowing from the African Arguments books. The sinews of war are infinite money – Cicero The war in Sudan has now raged for a little over five months.
When America Helped Assassinate an African Leader
Living in Kinshasa in the mid-1990s, I often drove past a futuristic tower looking out over the slow-moving, hyacinth-spotted river separating what was then Zaire from its neighbor, Congo-Brazzaville. The tower was a medley of gleaming metal tubes and concrete pillars, and its raison d’être was a bit of a mystery: It wasn’t particularly beautiful, had been left unfinished for decades, and couldn’t be visited. That ambiguity was fitting.
Rwanda accused of broad campaign of repression against dissidents
Rwandan authorities are coordinating a systematic campaign of repression at home and abroad against political activists, suspected dissidents and their family members, according to a Human Rights Watch report, raising questions about plans by the UK government to send asylum seekers there. The US-based rights group details an alleged campaign of extraterritorial killings, kidnappings and intimidation, as well as arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances on Rwandan soil.
An excellent profile of President Isaias
Source: The Economist Sep 28th 2023 By Michela Wrong In 1967, at the height of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, a group of young Eritrean students posed for a photo on the outskirts of Nanjing. The Eritreans, whose tiny country had been annexed by Ethiopia five years previously, were training to be guerrilla fighters in order to win it back. Looking at the photo, it’s not hard to guess which student would eventually emerge as a leader.
Why were 80,000 Asians suddenly expelled from Uganda in 1972?
The Exiled: Empire, Immigration and the Ugandan Asian Exodus Coronet, pp.384, 22 The mantelpieces of many an Asian family in Leicester and London, it is said, sport two framed photographs. One is of Idi Amin, the African dictator who expelled them from Uganda; the other is of Edward Heath, the prime minister who allowed them in.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive, explained
The Ukrainian counteroffensive has duly started and, needless to say, there is a rush to judgment. It is going to play out over the coming weeks, even months, though, and at present we are still working off partial and often deceptive information. But, while there is relatively little one can say about the events unfolding on the battlefield, there is more to be said about the way they are being spun.
Britain boards Biden’s climate gravy train
Sometimes it helps to have a banker as prime minister. They have plenty of faults. They can be dry, calculating, and they are typically far too rich to connect with ordinary people. But if they have one thing going for them it is this: they can spot free money when they see it. And Rishi Sunk has seized a chance for the UK to take a percentage of the unlimited cash that President Biden is spraying at American industry.
How Rwanda’s leader silences his critics overseas
After weeks of traveling — first Paris, then Kinshasa I was looking forward to my evening at L’Horloge du Sud in Brussels. Known for its poisson liboké (fish wrapped in banana leaf) and other African specialities, the restaurant is popular with the city’s African diaspora. I’d been invited by a Pan-African think tank to discuss my book on Rwanda. It was not to be. The day before, I got a call from the Benin journalist due to chair the event. He sounded rattled.
Is anywhere safe for Paul Kagame’s critics?
After weeks of travelling – first Paris, then Kinshasa – I was looking forward to my evening at L’Horloge du Sud in Brussels. Known for its poisson liboké (fish wrapped in banana leaf) and other African specialities, the restaurant is popular with the city’s African diaspora. I’d been invited by a Pan-African thinktank to discuss my book on Rwanda. It was not to be. The day before, I got a call from the Benin journalist due to chair the event. He sounded rattled.
Isaias Afwerki Led Eritrea’s Freedom Struggle, But Turned His Country Into a Prison Camp
Michela Wrong Once World War II broke out, the Allies realized that they needed to get Italian forces out of Africa. That meant they were going to have to seize Eritrea, Italy’s primordial colony. There was a famous battle at Keren in 1941, where British troops took on the Italian Fascists and the Ascari, a mercenary force of Eritrean soldiers who had been trained by the Italians and were famed for their military prowess.
Émission du 19 avril
L'actualité du jour scrupuleusement analysée et commentée par André Bercoff et ses invités avec l’œil avisé des auditeurs. Retrouvez "Bercoff dans tous ses états" du lundi au vendredi de 12h30 à 14h sur Sud Radio et en podcast.
Kagame’s Revenge
The speech was vintage Paul Kagame. Addressing a group of foreign ambassadors in Kigali in February 2023, the Rwandan president complained bitterly of being hounded about his country’s involvement in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he stands accused of backing a rebel group that is rapidly gobbling up land and whose members are mostly ethnic Tutsis, like Kagame.
Kagame’s Revenge
The speech was vintage Paul Kagame. Addressing a group of foreign ambassadors in Kigali in February 2023, the Rwandan president complained bitterly of being hounded about his country’s involvement in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he stands accused of backing a rebel group that is rapidly gobbling up land and whose members are mostly ethnic Tutsis, like Kagame.
Apartheid nostalgia
Popular resistance has been a consistent feature of post-apartheid South Africa. The early 2000s saw the rise of “new social movements,” such as the Anti-Eviction Campaign and the Anti-Privatization Forum, which leveled incisive critiques of the post-apartheid state and its associations with neoliberalism.
Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad
FORMAT Buy new or used from an indie through our partner Biblio: Price Condition Seller Description A powerful investigation into a grisly political murder and the authoritarian regime behind it: Do Not Disturb upends the narrative that Rwanda sold the world after one of the deadliest genocides of the twentieth century. We think we know the story of Africa's Great Lakes region.
The Rwanda deportation scheme might be legal, but it remains deeply shameful
Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images So the game is on, once again. Six months after a last-minute intervention by the European court of human rights prevented a flight carrying seven migrants from taking off for Kigali, the Home Office’s Rwanda asylum-processing deal is back in play, thanks to today’s ruling in favour of the scheme by Lord Justice Lewis and Mr Justice Swift.
The butcher of Chad who died in a private Senegalese clinic
Recent years have not been kind to the campaign for universal justice. The notion that some crimes are so serious that perpetrators should be hunted down and prosecuted irrespective of where the atrocities were actually committed has taken something of a beating since the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened for business in the Hague in 2002.
Where the international justice system fails
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Where the international justice system fails
As I am about to leave a guarded villa in the desert city of Niamey in west Africa, Tharcisse Muvunyi lays a restraining hand on my wrist. A lieutenant colonel in the Rwandan army at the time of the country’s genocide, he spent much of his working life in uniform, giving orders. His grey hair is still clipped regulation short, but now he wears a Hawaiian shirt, a badge of the retiree and holidaymaker. Its flamboyance jars with the quiet urgency in his voice. “Please help,” he says.
Review: “Africa Is Not a Country," by Dipo Faloyin
AFRICA IS NOT A COUNTRY: Notes on a Bright Continent, by Dipo Faloyin What do you remember about the film “Independence Day”? Will Smith looking cute in a jump suit? The autopsy scene where the squid-like alien kills the scientists? The warm, mindless surge of patriotism it generated? The Nigerian writer Dipo Faloyin noticed something different. At the film’s climax, the alien mothership is destroyed in a military operation mounted by a coalition of Earth’s continents.
Hotel Rwanda: why does Kagame want to take in Britain’s asylum seekers?
If President Paul Kagame has been tracking the furore over Priti Patel’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, he’s been doing it on the hoof. Kagame moves constantly these days: the news broke while he was en route to Barbados after a visit to Jamaica. In the past two months he has been to Congo-Brazzaville, Kenya (twice), Zambia, Germany (twice), Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Mauritania, Senegal and Belgium.
Britain’s migrant deal with Rwanda is a boon to Kagame
The writer is author of ‘Do Not Disturb.
The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad (English Edition) eBook : Wrong, Michela: Amazon.es: Tienda Kindle
Before I read Michela Wrong’s latest book, Do Not Disturb, if anyone had asked me what I knew about Rwanda, I would have said that there were three certainties. First, that a horrific genocide occurred there in 1994 which involved the slaughter of nearly a million people, mainly members of the minority Tutsi tribe, by machete wielding Hutu militia. Secondly, that the genocide was brought to an end by a disciplined group of Tutsi soldiers who had been trained in neighbouring Uganda.
A Memoir of Post-Genocide Refugee Life Rendered With Delicacy and Insight
nonfiction Mondiant Dogon in a classroom at a refugee camp in Rwanda. In “Those We Throw Away Are Diamonds,” his memoir of the Rwandan genocide, he reminds himself that for every neighbor who used the post-genocide turmoil as an opportunity to loot and rape, there was a local villager, a stranger on the road, who warned his family members of approaching danger, hid them at great personal risk and treated their wounds.Credit...via Mondiant Dogon Oct.
When will Britain wake up to the horror of Rwanda’s President?
I doubt that Paul Kagame would have me assassinated, but it became clear to me late on Sunday afternoon that, at the very least, I am in his sights. As President of Rwanda, Kagame became the toast of the international aid community – and collected billions of dollars in aid. But is this money well spent? My book, Do Not Disturb, takes a closer look at how Kagame operates. He doesn’t appreciate the attention.
Himalaya
For centuries, the unique and astonishing geography of the Himalaya has attracted those in search of spiritual and literal elevation: pilgrims, adventurers, and mountaineers seeking to test themselves among the world's most challenging peaks. But far from being wild and barren, the Himalaya has been home to a diversity of indigenous and local cultures, a crucible of world religions, a crossroads for trade, and a meeting point and conflict zone for empires past and present.
Trolled by the president
British journalist MICHELA WRONG reveals the storm of abuse she received at the hands of Rwanda’s Twitter army PUBLISH ANYTHING CRITICAL about the president of the tiny central African state of Rwanda, or his ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and you suddenly find yourself gazing into a freak-show mirror, where a ghoulish, unrecognisable reflection of your own face stares back.
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