what i find interesting about this togo thing is how it is a real test of whether regional entities like the african union and ECOWAS are capable of upholding their commitment to democracy. what i also find interesting is how little coverage this crisis has gotten in american papers, largely, i think, because it doesn't fit the overall narrative the press has developed for africa. africa, as it is usually portrayed in the u.s. media, is a place with brutal civil wars, poverty and ethnic conflicts. all those things exist in africa, as they exist on other continents, but that is not all that africa is. nor are civil wars or violence nearly as common in africa as one would think by reading american newspapers. i've visited 4 african countries. all had serious problems, but none were violent and only one was an unambiguous dictatorship (of the other 3, 2 were quasi-democracies and one, mali, was a full democracy)
this togo story is more like ukraine than somalia or darfur. and remember, there were ethnic issues in the ukrainian standoff as well--the ethnic russians favored yanukovich and the ethnic ukrainians favored yushchenko. the ethnic story was less compelling than the notion of normal citizens on the streets demanding democracy. don't get me wrong, i like the attention ukraine got. but i wonder how different it would be if the country were located in africa instead.
maybe togo is the answer. if togo were anywhere else in the world but africa, it would almost certainly get a lot more attention in the u.s. but it's in africa, playing out in a way that the world sees as non-african. i fear the only way anyone will start paying attention to the place is if the political standoff devolves into ethnic-based violence, confirming our standard impression of africa.
-------------------------------------------
* it drives me crazy when other bloggers ask "why hasn't [A] addressed [B] when in fact [A] has tried to do a lot about [B] and information about [B] features prominently on [A]'s web site for all to see if they just bothered to look. it happens all the time. if you know of an untapped well of togo postings that i didn't find because i didn't look, please call bullshit on me in the comments.
