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Today, Afghanistan is a nightmarish place for many Afghans, marked by a lack of rights and opportunities. It's crucial to recognize this reality. However, it's also important to acknowledge that numerous predictions from Washington did not materialize as expected. For all the admonishments of the Biden administration, Afghanistan has not become a gift for China or Russia, or a hotbed of transnational terrorism.President Biden faced relentless criticism for the withdrawal, decried as squandering "20 years of blood and sacrifice" by Republican Senator Jim Risch and branded "fatally flawed" by Democratic Senator Bob Menendez. Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who oversaw the end of the U.S. surge in Afghanistan during President Obama's tenure, likened the evacuation to the infamous Bay of Pigs fiasco, even before the tragic loss of 13 U.S. service members and at least 170 Afghans in an ISIS attack. Meanwhile, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who less than one year earlier had proudly stood for a photo op with the Taliban's chief negotiator, after agreeing to withdraw U.S. troops, told Fox News that the "Biden administration has just failed in its execution of its own plan." In April, the Wall Street Journal's Editorial Board partly attributed Russia's invasion of Ukraine to "U.S. surrender in Afghanistan" and during a Congressional hearing in July, Congressman Michael McCaul labeled the withdrawal "a mistake of epic proportions." Failure is, indeed, an orphan.One of the most frequently cited reasons for why the U.S. military had to remain in Afghanistan was rooted in counterterrorism efforts. Indeed, fighting terrorism was the reason for the authorization for the use of military force that allowed U.S. troops to be deployed to Afghanistan in the first place. President Biden drew criticism from certain pundits when he asserted on August 16, 2021, that "Our only vital national interest in Afghanistan remains today what it has always been: preventing a terrorist attack on [sic] American homeland." He emphasized that the original mission was, in fact, a response to a terrorist attack and had a primary focus on counterterrorism. Some pundits might find this fact inconvenient, especially those who have come to believe that our presence in Afghanistan was primarily about nation-building, rather than acknowledging that nation-building itself was an ill-conceived strategy within the context of the War on Terror. In the lead-up to the withdrawal, the notion of over-the-horizon counterterrorism capabilities was often ridiculed as ineffective. During the fall of 2021, the Pentagon assessed that the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP), an ISIS offshoot in Afghanistan, could potentially launch an attack on the U.S. within as little as 6 months. Yet, nearly two years later, no ISKP attack originating from Afghanistan has targeted U.S. soil. Furthermore, senior analysts at the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) recently evaluated that the group relies on "inexperienced operatives in Europe" to carry out attacks abroad. In other words, the next generation of 9/11 hijackers is not being trained in Afghanistan. The Biden administration showcased its ability to secure significant over-the-horizon victories against terrorists, such as when a U.S. drone killed al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in a Kabul apartment on July 31, 2022. As of last March, Nicholas Rasmussen, the Department of Homeland Security's counterterrorism coordinator, viewed the likelihood of a 9/11-style attack as "almost inconceivable." The world of today is different than on the morning of September 11, 2001. Back then, Afghans had extremely limited communication with the outside world. In contrast, today, over 60 percent of adults own a cell phone, with more than 80 percent having access to one. This trend holds true for other once-isolated parts of the world as well. This connectivity will pose challenges to the Taliban's ability to enforce their draconian restrictions over the long-run. It has also changed the way terrorists operate. In the realm of terrorism, the world is indeed flat. Extremist ideologies can be disseminated, and terrorists can recruit overseas operatives to inflict harm. But this may not be such a big win for terrorist groups like ISKP. While their capacity for recruitment is more substantial than in the past, their ability to train and direct quality recruits without interference is actually diminished. Meanwhile, the capacity of potential target nations to intercept such plots is stronger than ever before. Instead of participating in a global campaign of terrorist whack-a-mole, it is our domestic defenses that are best positioned to protect the homeland. This isn't meant to downplay the potential of ungoverned spaces to serve as breeding grounds for adept and motivated terrorists. However, concerning the case of Afghanistan, NCTC analysts concluded that the Taliban's activities have "prevented the branch [ISKP] from seizing territory that it could use to draw in and train foreign recruits for more sophisticated attacks."While it's true that terrorism can be managed and nation-building wasn't the purpose of going to war, it was still shocking for many Americans to witness the swift collapse of a government that so many U.S. lives, tax dollars, and lives of our Afghan partners had contributed to building. One reason for the astonishment shared by lawmakers, media, and the American public over the evacuation debacle, the vanishing of Afghan security forces, and the hasty departure of the Ghani administration, stems from a steady flow of falsehoods regarding the war. Rather than a deliberate effort of intentional deceit, it was more of a collective exercise in self-deception, omission, and hopeful exaggeration. As the U.S. war in Afghanistan trudged onward, a carefully curated liturgy of talking points was repeated in Washington. Our leaders were well aware that Afghanistan was an archipelago of cut-off cities and forward operating bases, while the Taliban dominated the countryside, roads, and the night. It was no secret that Ashraf Ghani was surrounded by a circle of sycophantic advisors. The economy was sustained by a continuous flow of aid and war-related industries. Yet, speaking candidly about this was rare until after the Afghan government collapsed.A cognitive dissonance made it acceptable for U.S. lawmakers, foreign elites, military-aged men who had fled their conflict-ridden countries, and even human rights organizations to not only call for the perpetual deployment of American soldiers but to claim we owed such a commitment. Of course, the U.S. military was more than enthusiastic to oblige. And for soldiers, there is an unrelenting desire and pressure to deploy. I too volunteered to deploy. However, the enthusiasm of young warfighters shouldn't grant a blank check for putting them in harm's way.Since the U.S. withdrawal, unsettling truths emerged. Although tens of thousands of Afghan soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice, when push came to shove — even before the Americans' departure — Afghan forces fell to the Taliban. Their supplies ran out and corrupt leaders in Kabul left them to die or surrender. The strongman warlords, elevated by Washington and summoned by Ashraf Ghani to save the republic, fled to neighboring countries. Over the years, the Taliban were dismissed as a proxy of Pakistan, disconnected from Afghan society, yet, it was the Afghan government, created through an international conference in Bonn, Germany, and supported with billions of U.S. aid, that failed to inspire Afghans to fight for its survival at a crucial moment. Many observers, myself included, were confident that Afghans would fiercely resist the Taliban and the country would rapidly descend into civil war. The country has instead fallen into a haunting silence.One prediction that has come true is the dire situation for women under the Taliban's rule that can only be described as gender apartheid. They have progressively restricted girls'and women's right to education, closed gathering places and livelihoods like beauty parlors, and even banned women from a national park. Their actions seem more driven by an obsession with control of every aspect of women's lives than religious doctrine. Additionally, the Taliban have stifled dissent and used torture against rivals. We must confront these harsh realities and take meaningful actions, but we must also avoid making promises we cannot fulfill, both for the sake of Afghans and our own credibility.Today, Afghanistan is not at war for the first time in twenty years, with violent deaths decreasing from well over 20,000 per year in the years leading up to the U.S. withdrawal to under 2,000 last year. The country hasn't turned into a narco-state. The Taliban also haven't abandoned their extremist beliefs, disavowed al-Qaeda, or restrained the Pakistani Taliban. However, their current focus seems to be inward on Afghanistan. The Afghan economy is struggling, partly due to Taliban mismanagement, though it doesn't appear to be much worse than the previous government at management, and their corruption seems to be less. Their cruelty, however, seems unfailing.It's worth reflecting on why so many of our predictions were inaccurate. The U.S. facilitated Afghanistan's development, but it also prolonged the war. Now, Taliban rule and the isolation it creates has plunged Afghans into deeper poverty and created a nightmare for women, a bargain from hell, created by Washington and its partners in Kabul, but that ultimately can only be resolved by Afghans themselves.
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America's Global War on Terror has seen its share of stalemates, disasters, and outright defeats. During 20-plus years of armed interventions, the United States has watched its efforts implode in spectacular fashion, from Iraq in 2014 to Afghanistan in 2021. The greatest failure of its "Forever Wars," however, may not be in the Middle East, but in Africa."Our war on terror begins with al-Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated," President George W. Bush told the American people in the immediate wake of the 9/11 attacks, noting specifically that such militants had designs on "vast regions" of Africa.To shore up that front, the U.S. began a decades-long effort to provide copious amounts of security assistance, train many thousands of African military officers, set up dozens of outposts, dispatch its own commandos on all manner of missions, create proxy forces, launch drone strikes, and even engage in direct ground combat with militants in Africa. Most Americans, including members of Congress, are unaware of the extent of these operations. As a result, few realize how dramatically America's shadow war there has failed.The raw numbers alone speak to the depths of the disaster. As the United States was beginning its Forever Wars in 2002 and 2003, the State Department counted a total of just nine terrorist attacks in Africa. This year, militant Islamist groups on that continent have, according to the Pentagon, already conducted 6,756 attacks. In other words, since the United States ramped up its counterterrorism operations in Africa, terrorism has spiked 75,000%.Let that sink in for a moment.75,000%.A Conflict that Will Live in InfamyThe U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq opened to military successes in 2001 and 2003 that quickly devolved into sputtering occupations. In both countries, Washington's plans hinged on its ability to create national armies that could assist and eventually take over the fight against enemy forces. Both U.S.-created militaries would, in the end, crumble. In Afghanistan, a two-decade-long war ended in 2021 with the rout of an American-built, -funded, -trained, and -armed military as the Taliban recaptured the country. In Iraq, the Islamic State nearly triumphed over a U.S.-created Iraqi army in 2014, forcing Washington to reenter the conflict. U.S. troops remain embattled in Iraq and neighboring Syria to this very day.In Africa, the U.S. launched a parallel campaign in the early 2000s, supporting and training African troops from Mali in the west to Somalia in the east and creating proxy forces that would fight alongside American commandos. To carry out its missions, the U.S. military set up a network of outposts across the northern tier of the continent, including significant drone bases – from Camp Lemonnier and its satellite outpost Chabelley Airfield in the sun-bleached nation of Djibouti to Air Base 201 in Agadez, Niger — and tiny facilities with small contingents of American special operations troops in nations ranging from Libya and Niger to the Central African Republic and South Sudan.For almost a decade, Washington's war in Africa stayed largely under wraps. Then came a decision that sent Libya and the vast Sahel region into a tailspin from which they have never recovered."We came, we saw, he died," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joked after a U.S.-led NATO air campaign helped overthrow Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi, the longtime Libyan dictator, in 2011. President Barack Obama hailed the intervention as a success, but Libya slipped into near-failed-state status. Obama would later admit that "failing to plan for the day after" Qaddafi's defeat was the "worst mistake" of his presidency.As the Libyan leader fell, Tuareg fighters in his service looted his regime's weapons caches, returned to their native Mali, and began to take over the northern part of that nation. Anger in Mali's armed forces over the government's ineffective response resulted in a 2012 military coup. It was led by Amadou Sanogo, an officer who learned English in Texas and underwent infantry-officer basic training in Georgia, military-intelligence instruction in Arizona, and was mentored by U.S. Marines in Virginia.Having overthrown Mali's democratic government, Sanogo and his junta proved hapless in battling terrorists. With the country in turmoil, those Tuareg fighters declared an independent state, only to be muscled aside by heavily armed Islamists who instituted a harsh brand of Shariah law, causing a humanitarian crisis. A joint Franco-American-African mission prevented Mali's complete collapse but pushed the militants into areas near the borders of both Burkina Faso and Niger.Since then, those nations of the West African Sahel have been plagued by terrorist groups that have evolved, splintered, and reconstituted themselves. Under the black banners of jihadist militancy, men on motorcycles — two to a bike, wearing sunglasses and turbans, and armed with Kalashnikovs — regularly roar into villages to impose zakat (an Islamic tax); steal animals; and terrorize, assault, and kill civilians. Such relentless attacks have destabilized Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger and are now affecting their southern neighbors along the Gulf of Guinea. Violence in Togo and Benin has, for example, jumped 633% and 718% over the last year, according to the Pentagon.U.S.-trained militaries in the region have been unable to stop the onslaught and civilians have suffered horrifically. During 2002 and 2003, terrorists caused just 23 casualties in Africa. This year, according to the Pentagon, terrorist attacks in the Sahel region alone have resulted in 9,818 deaths — a 42,500% increase.At the same time, during their counterterrorism campaigns, America's military partners in the region have committed gross atrocities of their own, including extrajudicial killings. In 2020, for example, a top political leader in Burkina Faso admitted that his country's security forces were carrying out targeted executions. "We're doing this, but we're not shouting it from the rooftops," he told me, noting that such murders were good for military morale.American-mentored military personnel in that region have had only one type of demonstrable "success": overthrowing governments the United States trained them to protect. At least 15 officers who benefited from such assistance have been involved in 12 coups in West Africa and the greater Sahel during the war on terror. The list includes officers from Burkina Faso (2014, 2015, and twice in 2022); Chad (2021); Gambia (2014); Guinea (2021); Mali (2012, 2020, and 2021); Mauritania (2008); and Niger (2023). At least five leaders of a July coup in Niger, for example, received American assistance, according to a U.S. official. They, in turn, appointed five U.S.-trained members of the Nigerien security forces to serve as that country's governors.Military coups of that sort have even super-charged atrocities while undermining American aims, yet the United States continues to provide such regimes with counterterrorism support. Take Colonel Assimi Goïta, who worked with U.S. Special Operations forces, participated in U.S. training exercises, and attended the Joint Special Operations University in Florida before overthrowing Mali's government in 2020. Goïta then took the job of vice president in a transitional government officially charged with returning the country to civilian rule, only to seize power again in 2021.That same year, his junta reportedly authorized the deployment of the Russia-linked Wagner mercenary forces to fight Islamist militants after close to two decades of failed Western-backed counterterrorism efforts. Since then, Wagner — a paramilitary group founded by the late Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former hot-dog vendor turned warlord — has been implicated in hundreds of human rights abuses alongside the longtime U.S.-backed Malian military, including a 2022 massacre that killed 500 civilians.Despite all of this, American military aid for Mali has never ended. While Goïta's 2020 and 2021 coups triggered prohibitions on some forms of U.S. security assistance, American tax dollars have continued to fund his forces. According to the State Department, the U.S. provided more than $16 million in security aid to Mali in 2020 and almost $5 million in 2021. As of July, the department's Bureau of Counterterrorism was waiting on congressional approval to transfer an additional $2 million to Mali. (The State Department did not reply to TomDispatch's request for an update on the status of that funding.)The Two-Decade StalemateOn the opposite side of the continent, in Somalia, stagnation and stalemate have been the watchwords for U.S. military efforts."Terrorists associated with Al Qaeda and indigenous terrorist groups have been and continue to be a presence in this region," a senior Pentagon official claimed in 2002. "These terrorists will, of course, threaten U.S. personnel and facilities." But when pressed about an actual spreading threat, the official admitted that even the most extreme Islamists "really have not engaged in acts of terrorism outside Somalia." Despite that, U.S. Special Operations forces were dispatched there in 2002, followed by military aid, advisers, trainers, and private contractors.More than 20 years later, U.S. troops are still conducting counterterrorism operations in Somalia, primarily against the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab. To this end, Washington has provided billions of dollars in counterterrorism assistance, according to a recent report by the Costs of War Project. Americans have also conducted more than 280 air strikes and commando raids there, while the CIA and special operators built up local proxy forces to conduct low-profile military operations.Since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the U.S. has launched 31 declared airstrikes in Somalia, six times the number carried out during President Obama's first term, though far fewer than the record high set by President Trump, whose administration launched 208 attacks from 2017 to 2021.America's long-running, undeclared war in Somalia has become a key driver of violence in that country, according to the Costs of War Project. "The U.S. is not simply contributing to conflict in Somalia, but has, rather, become integral to the inevitable continuation of conflict in Somalia," reported Ẹniọlá Ànúolúwapọ Ṣóyẹmí, a lecturer in political philosophy and public policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University. "U.S. counterterrorism policies are," she wrote, "ensuring that the conflict continues in perpetuity."The Epicenter of International Terrorism"Supporting the development of professional and capable militaries contributes to increasing security and stability in Africa," said General William Ward, the first chief of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) — the umbrella organization overseeing U.S. military efforts on the continent — in 2010, before he was demoted for profligate travel and spending. His predictions of "increasing security and stability" have, of course, never come to pass.While the 75,000% increase in terror attacks and 42,500% increase in fatalities over the last two decades are nothing less than astounding, the most recent increases are no less devastating. "A 50-percent spike in fatalities tied to militant Islamist groups in the Sahel and Somalia over the past year has eclipsed the previous high in 2015," according to a July report by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a Defense Department research institution. "Africa has experienced a nearly four-fold increase in reported violent events linked to militant Islamist groups over the past decade… Almost half of that growth happened in the last 3 years."Twenty-two years ago, George W. Bush announced the beginning of a Global War on Terror. "The Taliban must act, and act immediately," he insisted. "They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate." Today, of course, the Taliban reigns supreme in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda was never "stopped and defeated," and other terror groups have spread across Africa (and elsewhere). The only way "to defeat terrorism," Bush asserted, was to "eliminate it and destroy it where it grows." Yet it has grown, and spread, and a plethora of new militant groups have emerged.Bush warned that terrorists had designs on "vast regions" of Africa but was "confident of the victories to come," assuring Americans that "we will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail." In country after country on that continent, the U.S. has, indeed, faltered and its failures have been paid for by ordinary Africans killed, wounded, and displaced by the terror groups that Bush pledged to "defeat." Earlier this year, General Michael Langley, the current AFRICOM commander, offered what may be the ultimate verdict on America's Forever Wars on that continent. "Africa," he declared, "is now the epicenter of international terrorism."This article has been republished with permission from TomDispatch.
The twentieth century (characterized by the gruesome and haze of horror of two World Wars, the Cold Wars-CW, dictatorships, civil wars, genocides, etc.) has seen a great transformation in warfare but to the expense of the innocent civilians and yet in the full view of regulatory internationally recognized war-laws. So, if at one point in history, civilian populations hardly suffered war directly, the order of the state of affairs has now changed. Many civilians perish simply because warlords so desire; extremes of violence, killings and destruction of property is predominantly preferred. As if that is not enough, the indifference of the majority of the public in tranquil zones of the world towards the fate of the civilians in zones under by fire kind of provide implicit licenses to violence planners to do whatever it takes to "win". Consequently, great numbers of survivors are seen trying to escape from situations of assured death to that of probable death. It is against this background that we feel moved to take on this dissertation. Bearing in mind the generally complex and challenging contemporary conflicts that acutely breeds volatile security environments (for civilians), our thesis is that there needed to be an increased, noteworthy and continued applicable innovation of approaches to civilian protection. To be precise, as a strategy to sustainable peace, we have aspired after a world where the United Nations Peacekeeping Department (UNPKD) is not singly considered the sole custodian of the concept of civilian protection but (based on contexts and cases) as one but a leader among other stakeholders (local and foreign) able and ready to contribute to the common-pool of operational arenas. Thinking about these other stake holders, we have in this work stood by those that: firstly, move towards more civilian-centered operations that are; secondly, carried out by (a mixture of grassroots and international) unarmed civilians by means of; thirdly, engages nonviolent approaches and practices that in themselves anticipate the basic constituents of successive bottom-up Peacemaking (PK) and Peacebuilding (PB) in the hic et nunc of their Peacekeeping (PK) initiatives and applications. All these basics, in our view, do not just add up to drawing a continuous line that intersects the just mentioned Three Approaches to Peace (PK, PM, PB) coined by Johan Galtung way back in 1975; they also open avenues to sustainability. The thesis is taken on through three different parts; each subdivided into two chapters. With due attention to intrastate contemporary violent conflicts, the first part tries to demonstrate the reason why in PK there has been indeed need for rethinking the protection of civilians (PoC) and/or for enriching the methods until now employed in bringing it about. In the first chapter of the part, we kind of gave a sketchy attention to the historical journey that the patterns of violent conflicts in relation to the fate of non-combatants have made. It emerges that, unlike in the past, the pattern of contemporary violent conflict, especially with reference to the CW (especially in third-world countries) and post-CW periods, have become severely complex to handle. Wars have continued and proved to be very hot especially on the populations on the periphery; on those who are minimally directly concerned with and honestly ignorant of its objectives. In the period in question, these innocent men, women and children are more than ever struck hard not just by its direct consequences but also the indirect ones and their hopes are constantly put at the brink of mere survival and of the grave. Mores so the lucky ones who manage to escape these snares, continue to unwaveringly hope for bread, freedom, justice and peace, instead of iron that kills and destroys. In chapter II of the same part, looking at the commitments borne by the UN right from its early years in keeping, initially, the interstate and successively also the intrastate peace (of those tormented by reign of violence and terror), we acknowledge the strides gradually taken along the years. These strides has better late than never embraced a multidimensional point in time where civilian protection counts as a primacy. Accordingly, we recognize that the UN military PK is certainly capable of reducing the level of tension in conflicts but we also negated that, by so doing, it is able to guarantee a durable peace not only because of the application of the non-peaceful means which is limited to separating the conflicting parties but also because it lacks the strategic concern of fostering an active citizenship which is a basic ingredient to democratic populace. In Part Two, we have concentrated on the vision and the peculiar picture of the practitioners of the alternative way, particularly; the Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) which operates on a benchmark of bottom-up strategic empowerment of local civilian unarmed and nonviolent efforts by international unarmed and nonviolent civilians to protect civilians, prevent, reduce and stop violent conflicts. The first chapter of this second part begins by singling out some of the nuts and bolts (Like: The centrality of sustainability; strategic, local and multilevel capacity and relational empowerment and mediation for peace; conflict transformation as the adequate language; nonviolence and nonpartisanship as a philosophy) that make Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) stands out faithfully to the above stated aspirations. Without giving importance to the chronological specifics and with a particular reference to the assessment of the practicality of the project that, on a later date, would organizationally become the NP, an extensive attention is paid to the vicissitudes that surrounded the founding of this UCP protection agency and especially to the foundations of the formative elements entailed. Chapter II does not only build on the findings and stimuli of Chapter I, it supersedes it and makes real a new and distinct reality. Herein, a unique place is devoted to the formative components reserved to the practitioners as a strategy for guaranteeing the competencies and high professionalism needed for the successful execution of field strategies attached to the NP UCP objectives, principles, key methods and practices. Through the analysis of the UCP Training Course entitled "Strengthening Civilian Capacities to Protect Civilians; A joint UNITAR- Nonviolent Peaceforce online Course" the chapter tries to show how the activities of the organization intrinsically flow from its very being; from elements which define it. And this is illustrated in how the very life of the NP UCP is blended with its formative spirit and content; a sort of transformative training that seeks to promote transformative operational frameworks that applicable to situations and contexts. The third part of the work is an applied one. It is dedicated to our chosen case study, namely, NP's intervention in the longtime violence-stricken Republic of South Sudan; in a country which (Thomas Hobbes would say) has once again reverted to its natural state; a harsh reality of hand to mouth living and a never ending search for sustenance in an ambiance virtually challenging to change. In chapter I, the pragmatic implementation of NP UCP in strengthening the local civilians' capacity, security and sense of safety in situation of violent conflict is marked out. Here, some concrete instances of this intervention are presented to exemplify the claim that a multiple base of actors (UCPs, the inviting civil society and/or local NGOs of an UCP presence and local partners) can sustainably and strategically provide the PoC work that for a long time was and is still largely entrusted to the military. And at the end of the day PK, PM, PB resources are considered to consist in not only financial and material supports, but also, and (in the same way) importantly, the socio-cultural resources of the affected people. And in this way people in conflict settings are seen as resources rather than recipients. Even though we evidently confirmed that the alternative way counts exceptionally big in strategically promoting, developing, and implementing sustainable unarmed civilian PK as a tool for preventing, reducing and stopping violence and protecting civilians in situations of violent conflict, we also acknowledge that it is not without challenges. These are actually what chapter two of the part extensively dwells on. The second chapter is instead dedicated (at length) to looking at the challenges that NP faces not only with regard to its missions lands but also in general. We have gone about this in the form of a comprehensive assessment and in some humble recommendations are advanced. Among these challenges we have particularly paid attention to issues like: The meager UCP funding and the dominant top-down mentality; the violent bully character of some major world power wielders; the need for more practitioners to carry out UCP; the dynamicity and complexity of conflict nature as a challenge; conflict prevention challenges like delays in capturing the signs of time so as to effectively intervene; the presence of spoilers as a challenge; the challenge of effective sustainable credibility. Recommendations proposed include among others: Investing in systematic reflections on the extent of the progress and failures so far registered in efforts to involve the UN, regional bodies and other donor agencies or individuals in the cause of NP (UCP) and reflecting on the philosophy that underpins the reasons why financial assistance to UCP and NP in particular is founded; more emphasis on the already existing engagement with political leaders and other influential people and embarking on popular campaigns to propagate a concretely evidenced knowledge of the feasibility of the alternative way, instituting and investing in "School Project" (dedicated to preferably to high schools) within the NP Advocacy and Outreach office and insisting on the positives of volunteers' contribution; enriching a little more the content of the just elaborated online UCP training course; etc. Hereafter, the general conclusion of our dissertation will be drawn. A profound acknowledgement of the UNPK pivotal role with its actual multidimensional fronts in PK basically intended as PoC specifically in the contemporary intrastate violent conflicts. It is also observed that, thanks to the appropriate blending of local and international capacities giving priority to the former, UCP's strategic approach to PK (which is not limited to the PoCs but is also anchored to preventing, reducing and ending not just those that are already on but also lays for standing up to the future possible ones) could be counted on. Thus far, it is on one hand, admissible that, despite all the challenges that there may be, NP (UCP) mechanisms is already proffering a great deal to this end, and on the other, it is evident that it can and should still do more. The ability of its interventions to stand the test of time and to stand up to the future conflicts (i.e. its sustainability) resides in a time which is not yet at hand and in the continuous involvement and inventiveness of many. As per now, if the Italian proverb "Il buongiorno si vede dal mattino" (Meaning: You can tell how something will go by how it begins) holds, then it is, up till now, realistic to count on NP as one of the most outstanding Bottom-up UCP organizations in the PoC in (selected) contemporary violent conflict situations. All that is needed is the building and the consolidation of international interest and support for UCP that presents the hope and reality of alternatives to over dependence on armed intervention; alternatives that chances the revitalization of local communities and the restoration of the social fabrics and capital of the affected people.
AMÉRICA LATINA Unos 80 muertos y 150.000 afectados por fuertes lluvias en Centroamérica.Para más información: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/17/world/americas/central-america-floods/index.html?hpt=wo_bn8 http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/17/actualidad/1318837321_448930.html http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/latinoamerica/unos-80-muertos-y-150000-afectados-por-lluvias-en-amrica_10578146-4 http://www.economist.com/node/21532292El Tribunal Supremo venezolano bloquea la candidatura de un rival de Chávez.Para más información:http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/18/actualidad/1318904762_393671.htmlhttp://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/latinoamerica/en-venezuela-positor-lpez-dice-que-ser-candidato-pese-a-inhabilidad_10589966-4 http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/internacional/74788.htmlUna millonaria multa asedia al principal canal opositor de Venezuela.Para más información: http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1415945-una-millonaria-multa-asedia-al-principal-canal-opositor-de-venezuela#comentar http://diario.elmercurio.com/2011/10/19/internacional/_portada/noticias/A46B940C-C6B6-4CE1-BB45-6BAE144B1D21.htm?id={A46B940C-C6B6-4CE1-BB45-6BAE144B1D21} http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/latinoamerica/multa-a-canal-opositor-del-televisin-venezolano_10586304-4 http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/18/actualidad/1318965461_251822.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15358834Liberada la niña colombiana secuestrada durante 19 días.Para más información: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/18/world/americas/colombia-missing-girl/index.html?hpt=wo_c2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15361105http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1415801-liberan-a-una-nina-secuestrada-en-colombia#comentar http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/18/actualidad/1318909157_377754.htmlGraves incidentes caracterizan al paro nacional en Chile.Para más información: http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1415802-graves-incidentes-en-chile#comentar http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/internacional/74789.html http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/latinoamerica/estudiantes-inician-dos-marchas-en-segundo-da-de-protesta_10591924-4 http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/802075.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15358921La Fiscalía de Perú investiga a uno de los vicepresidentes por corrupción.Para más información: http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/18/actualidad/1318920890_039227.htmlChávez regresa a Cuba para realizarse nuevos examines médicos.Para más información: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/15/world/americas/venezuela-chavez-cuba/index.html?hpt=wo_bn8Morales acepta diálogo con indígenas. Para más información: http://diario.elmercurio.com/2011/10/19/internacional/internacional/noticias/17A854B3-B420-45C8-875E-EA0D3E3CE994.htm?id={17A854B3-B420-45C8-875E-EA0D3E3CE994} http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/latinoamerica/la-marcha-de-los-indgenas-crece-con-apoyo-a-su-ingreso-a-la-paz_10591905-4 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15366035Ecuador: Rafael Correa y el neocaudillismo.Para más información: http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/internacional/74772.htmlEl PRI presenta queja contra el presidente de México, Felipe Calderón.Para más información: http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/latinoamerica/el-pri-presenta-queja-contra-el-presidente-caldern-ante-rgano-electoral_10590044-4 http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/17/world/americas/mexico-politics-crime/index.html?hpt=wo_bn8Argentina: de cara a las presidenciales del domingo 23 de octubre.Para más información: http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/19/actualidad/1319007522_163618.html http://diario.elmercurio.com/2011/10/19/internacional/internacional/noticias/5B640A57-EEEA-4766-BACC-47EC5B017B43.htm?id={5B640A57-EEEA-4766-BACC-47EC5B017B43} http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/18/actualidad/1318960474_989283.html http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/internacional/74786.htmlOposición pidió anular elección de magistrados del domingo en Bolivia.Para más información: http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/latinoamerica/bolivia-vot-para-elegir-magistrados_10577188-4La tensión se agudiza en Nicaragua a dos semanas de las presidenciales.Para más información: http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/18/actualidad/1318919187_018457.htmlPresos mantienen secuestrados a 60 trabajadores de cárcel en Venezuela.Para más información: http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/latinoamerica/presos-en-venezuela-secuestran-60-trabajadores-de-una-crcel_10576625-4Brasil: otro escándalo de corrupción involucra a ministro de Dilma.Para más información: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-brazil-dilma-20111016,0,7107872.storyRevuelta en cárcel mexicana deja al menos20 muertos. Para más información: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-prison-20111016,0,1752360.story Primer Ministro jamaiquino nombra a su sucesor.Para más información: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/world/americas/jamaicas-prime-minister-names-education-official-as-successor.html?ref=world'Sería un duro golpe si Chávez muere': Rafael Correa.Para más información: http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/latinoamerica/seria-un-duro-golpe-si-chavez-muere-rafael-correa_10592824-4ESTADOS UNIDOS / CANADÁLos "indignados" redoblan la presión en Estados Unidos.Para más información: http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-2 http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1415342-los-indignados-redoblan-la-presion#comentar http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/18/actualidad/1318958353_966494.htmlEn visita sorpresa a Trípoli, Hillary Clinton "saluda la victoria" de Libia.Para más información: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/world/africa/clinton-in-libya-to-meet-leaders-and-offer-aid-package.html?ref=world http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/18/actualidad/1318937456_884598.html http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/802020.html http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/18/world/africa/libya-clinton/index.html?hpt=wo_c2En un año fueron deportados de Estados Unidos 400.000 indocumentados.Para más información: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/us/latinos-said-to-bear-weight-of-deportation-program.html?ref=world http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1415799-eeuu-record-de-expulsiones-de-indocumentados#comentar http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/internacional/74785.htmlBarack Obama de gira por estados claves en carrera por la reelecciónPara más información: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/14/world/africa/africa-obama-troops/index.html?hpt=wo_bn10 http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/estados-unidos/obama-de-gira-por-estados-claves-en-carrera-por-la-reeleccin_10585564-4 http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/16/actualidad/1318787773_176962.html http://www.nytimes.com/pages/politics/index.html?hpCain, el republicano hoy le ganaría a Obama.Para más información: http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1415544-cain-la-gran-sorpresa-de-la-campana-en-eeuu#comentar http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/18/actualidad/1318961539_985453.htmlCandidatos republicanos intercambiaron 'golpes' en debate televisivoPara más información: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15361428 http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/estados-unidos/debate-televisivo-entre-candidatos-republicanos-_10591805-4 http://www.lemonde.fr/ameriques/article/2011/10/19/les-candidats-a-la-primaire-republicaine-promettent-de-solder-le-bilan-d-obama_1590084_3222.html Migración centra debate electoral.Para más información: http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/internacional/74784.htmlLos amish salen de su silencio y denuncian ataques en Estados Unidos.Para más información: http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/18/actualidad/1318970940_744477.htmlGobierno de Estados Unidos refuerza sus sitios en la web.Para más información: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/world/africa/united-states-weighs-cyberwarfare-strategy.html?ref=worldEUROPAGrecia otra vez paralizada con una manifestación récord.Para más información: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15362678 http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1415955-protesta-record-en-grecia#comentar http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/europa/huelga-general-en-grecia-por-medidas-de-austeridad_10591386-4Piden a ETA el cese definitivo de la violencia.Para más información: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/17/world/europe/spain-eta/index.html?hpt=wo_bn9 http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1415479-piden-a-eta-el-cese-definitivo-de-la-violencia#comentar http://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2011/10/19/l-agence-de-notation-moody-s-abaisse-la-note-de-l-espagne_1590072_3234.htmlFrancia, cerca de perder su calificación "triple A".Para más información: http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1415800-francia-cerca-de-perder-su-calificacion-triple-a#comentarAbsuelven a Berlusconi en un caso de sospechas de fraude fiscal.Para más información: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/world/europe/italys-interior-minister-anticipates-more-unrest.html?ref=world http://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2011/10/18/berlusconi-acquitte-des-soupcons-de-fraude-fiscale-et-d-abus-de-confiance_1589912_3214.html http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1415666-absuelven-a-berlusconi-en-un-caso-de-sospechas-de-fraude-fiscal#comentar http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/world/europe/tax-fraud-and-embezzlement-charges-against-silvio-berlusconi-are-dismissed.html?ref=worldEl socialista Hollande encabeza encuesta presidencial en Francia.Para más información: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-france-socialist-vote-20111017,0,4995709.story http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/802055.html http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/europa/franois-hollande-fue-elegico-como-el-candidato-del-partido-socialista-para-prximas-elecciones-en-francia_10575324-4 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15365469 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/world/europe/french-campaign-taking-shape-as-3-person-collision.html?ref=world http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/17/actualidad/1318872449_028848.htmlStrauss-Kahn pide declarar ante el juez que instruye un escándalo de prostitución.Para más información: http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/16/actualidad/1318785517_533837.htmlViolencia en la primera marcha global; Roma: escenario de una batalla campal.Para más información: http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1415094-violencia-en-la-primera-marcha-global#comentarLas tensiones en Kosovo y la crisis política en Bosnia y Albania desestabilizan la región.Para más información: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15355955 http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/16/actualidad/1318793428_156884.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/world/europe/europe-signals-its-ire-at-ukraines-president-yanukovich.html?ref=world http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15367388Medvedev emprende la campaña electoral del partido Rusia Unida.Para más información: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/17/world/europe/russia-putin-interview/index.html?hpt=wo_bn9 http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/15/actualidad/1318709881_117330.htmlRusia firma tratado de libre comercio con los ex Estados Soviéticos.Para más información: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15363770Una advertencia de Alemania asustó a los mercados.Para más información: http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1415541-una-advertencia-de-alemania-asusto-a-los-mercados#comentarLa justicia pone a la mujer más rica de Francia bajo la tutela de su familia.Para más información: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/17/world/europe/france-loreal-guardianship/index.html?hpt=wo_bn9 http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/17/actualidad/1318850617_214116.htmlReina Isabel comienza tour por Australia.Para más información: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15364751Más de 20 muertos en el peor ataque de los últimos años en Turquía.Para más información: http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-10591024ASIA- PACÍFICO/ MEDIO ORIENTEHistórico intercambio en Medio Oriente: Gilad Shalit a cambio de1027 prisioneros palestinos.Para más información: http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/18/actualidad/1318901857_778178.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/world/middleeast/hard-feelings-after-israel-hamas-swap-for-shalit.html?_r=1&ref=world http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15361312 http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/internacional/74781.html http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/18/world/meast/israel-prisoner-swap-shalit-future/index.html?hpt=wo_c1 http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook/2011/10/gilad-shalit http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mideast-prisoners-freed-20111019,0,3020421.story http://israelpalestine.blog.lemonde.fr/2011/10/19/pourquoi-il-ne-faut-rien-attendre-de-lechange-shalit-pour-le-processus-de-paix/Los yemeníes desafían al régimen pese a la represión.Para más información: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/17/world/meast/yemen-unrest/index.html?hpt=wo_bn11 http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/16/actualidad/1318794219_261465.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15365980Tropas francesas comienzan a volver de Afganistán.Para más información: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15363624 http://www.lemonde.fr/asie-pacifique/article/2011/10/19/l-armee-francaise-commence-a-se-retirer-d-afghanistan_1590100_3216.htmlAccidente aéreo en Nepal: 6 muertos.Para más información: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15363178Disidentes chinos desafían el poder.Para más información: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/world/asia/despite-violence-chinese-dissidents-emboldened-supporters-stream-to-see-him.html?ref=world http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/17/world/asia/china-toddler-hit-and-run/index.html?hpt=wo_bn7"New York Times" analiza: "Irak, la guerra olvidada".Para más información: http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/iraq-the-forgotten-war/?ref=worldContinúa la violencia en Siria.Para más información: http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook/2011/10/syrias-uprising-1 http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/17/world/meast/iran-saudi-plot/index.html?hpt=wo_bn11 http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/15/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?hpt=wo_bn11Ataque terrorista en Afganistán tenía como objetivo Central de Inteligencia.Para más información: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/17/world/asia/afghanistan-violence/index.html?hpt=wo_bn7Reactor de Fukushima puede dejar de funcionar antes de lo previstoPara más información: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/17/world/asia/japan-nuclear/index.html?hpt=wo_c2 http://www.lemonde.fr/japon/article/2011/10/19/dans-les-villes-mortes-autour-de-fukushima_1590284_1492975.htmlInundaciones continúan amenazando a tailandeses.Para más información: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15368177La inflación continúa siendo una gran preocupación en China.Para más información: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-china-inflation-20111015,0,6423694.storyEjecuciones secretas de cientos de disidentes en Irán desde 2009.Para más información: http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/medio-oriente/ejecuciones-secretas-de-disidentes-en-irn-desde-2009_10585865-4La guerra fría de Oriente Medio, el caso Irán-Arabia Saudita.Para más información: http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/medio-oriente/la-guerra-fra-de-oriente-medio-en-caso-irn-arabia-saudita_10582024-4AFRICALa Haya quiere juzgar en rebeldía a los acusados del asesinato de líder libanés Hariri.Para más información: http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/17/actualidad/1318867023_270193.htmlKenia irrumpe en Somalia para combatir a los islamistas y evitar más secuestros.Para más información: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/world/africa/kenyan-officials-make-surprise-visit-to-somalia.html?ref=world http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2011/10/18/le-kenya-entre-dans-la-guerre-en-somalie_1589711_3212.html http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2011/10/16/actualidad/1318786711_259229.htmlEn visita sorpresa a Trípoli, Hillary Clinton "saluda la victoria" de Libia.Para más información: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/world/africa/battle-for-surt-threatens-libyas-healing-process.html?ref=world http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/18/actualidad/1318937456_884598.html http://diario.elmercurio.com/2011/10/19/internacional/_portada/noticias/4B3195A5-934A-4355-AF63-610140F9E0D4.htm?id={4B3195A5-934A-4355-AF63-610140F9E0D4} http://www.lemonde.fr/libye/article/2011/10/18/visite-surprise-d-hillary-clinton-en-libye_1589905_1496980.htmlEn Liberia surge nueva fórmula para las elecciones presidenciales.Para más información: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-liberia-warlord-20111019,0,74864.storyEstados Unidos envió militares para dar recomendaciones en Uganda.Para más información: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-us-uganda-20111015,0,3346989.storyHuellas de violencia persisten en Libia.Para más información: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-libya-killings-20111017,0,6961741.storyFMI: Se espera un crecimiento económico del 5% en África durante el 2011.Para más información: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15366045OTRAS NOTICIAS"El Universal" presenta su portal dedicado al cambio climático.Para más información: http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/coberturas/cobertura3.html"The Economist" presenta su informe semanal: "Business this week".Para más información: http://www.economist.com/node/21532338
Professor David Dabydeen is a Guyanese-born writer, critic and academic at the Centre of Caribbean Studies at the University of Warwick. In 1993 he became Guyana's ambassador at UNESCO and is still a member of their Executive Board. He has been Guyana's ambassador to China since 2010. Professor Dabydeen has also won several international and national prizes such as the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, the Quiller-Couch Prize, and the Hind Rattan (Jewel of India). Among his works are Slave Song (1984), The Intended (1991), Disappearance (1993); and Our Lady of Demerara (2004). He also co-edited The Oxford Companion to Black British History in 2007. RB[1]: You are both a writer and a university professor of comparative literature. Do you know yourself first as a writer or a university professor?DD[2]: First as a writer. When I was a boy that is basically all I wanted to be. As a teenager I wrote the usual self-pitying stuff and, at 16 or 17, I attempted a novel in verse, inspired by some story in the Bible, I forgotten which; but gave up after a couple of pages. Why want to be a writer? I don't know. In my youth in Guyana I never encountered a writer. I think it must have been youthful aspiration to emulate the writers of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys novels, which were standard childhood fare in Guyana. Also, since I come from a large family, it must have been the regular escape to the New Amsterdam public library to be alone, and whilst there( the place was usually empty), discovering books in the Ladybird series on great scientists, great politicians etc. I distinctly remember reading about Benjamin Franklin, Madame Curie, Alexander the Great, and others, at the age of nine or ten. There were also the odd books on Greek myths, lavishly illustrated for children. The story of Andromeda chained and naked and threatened by a monster, before being saved by Perseus, awakened unfamiliar boyish erotic feelings… perhaps not 'unfamiliar '( I was 8 or 9 ) but certainly the first time a book had aroused such feelings. When I was about 11 or 12 I came across V.S. Naipaul's MIGUEL STREET and was awed by how it made our lives in Guyana so familiar. It was set in Trinidad but the characters lived down my street. A great contrast to the Andromeda story which was exotic and erotic as opposed to the familiar lives of ordinary folk described by Naipaul.Being an academic has also been important to my writing. Firstly, you get a lot of time to read and discuss books with very bright students. Teaching in seminar groups has been amazingly exciting at times, and that intellectual excitement, sensuous in intensity, inspires the act of writing. I used to teach MA courses on Black British Literature and on Literature and Slavery. Certainly, Olaudah Equiano's autobiography in 1789, which I read multiple times for teaching purposes, left an impact on my writing, which is dotted with 'Equiano' figures ( people who moved from deprivation to the craft of writing, through cunning and an inclination for mischief mostly). Secondly, as an academic, you are exposed to theory, which can fertilised your writing and give it a 'metaphysical' content. Overexposure leads to didacticism, which I am sure my writing suffers from. As Derek Walcott says, you shouldn't "put Descartes before the horse." Most importantly, being an academic pays the bills, so whilst hunger has provoked a lot of writers, I preferred to have a house rather than a hovel. Growing up in Guyana was to exist in relative lack of material things. Many years ago I met Maya Angelou, she had kindly invited me to her house, and she had cooked a lovely Southern meal. She said: "I drive a Cadillac. I don't do bicycles, which were my youth. And I eat meat, because all I had as a child was garden vegetables'. I appreciated her extravagance, though deep down she was a kindly person, and generous. RB: You are also a politician. In 2010 you were appointed as Guyana's Ambassador in China. How have you proved yourself as a politician?DD: I don't belong to any political party in Guyana, but I enjoyed a close friendship with Cheddi and Janet Jagan. Cheddi had been cheated out of office as a result of the CIA and the British Government, in the 1960s, because he was a committed man of the left. In 1984, when I was appointed to Warwick University, I invited Cheddi to lecture there. He had no money, so the University and a travel agent friend, Vino Patel, were persuaded to provide his economy ticket and accommodation whilst at Warwick. We treated him as the true President of Guyana. All the national elections had been fiddled, and he was kept out of office for decades. Warwick offered him a platform, when other places thought of him as a 'has been'. He visited about five times, then in 1992, the Berlin Wall having fallen and the Cold war ended, the Americans allowed us to have free and fair elections, supervised by President Carter and Cheddi Jagan won and became President of Guyana. I was his regular houseguest from 1992 until 1997 when he died. He taught me more about how colonialism behaved than any textbook. He had lived through the colonial period and was jailed by the British in 1953. All his life was dedicated to the betterment of the poor: he was fiercely concerned with reducing and eliminating poverty. In return for his great hospitality, all I could do was to edit and publish some of his political speeches. He also asked me to be his Ambassador at Large and to sit on the UNESCO Executive Board representing Guyana. He had no money, since he inherited a bankrupt country in 1992, so it was an amazing honour to serve him pro bono. One day I will write something more extensive about him… one of the stories he told me was about Fidel Castro. The two of them were friends and political comrades in the late 50s and early 60s. It was Cuba who supplied us with food in the early 1960s when the CIA formented strikes and shortages in Guyana. Castro, however, needed allies in the region, against American embargo, so when Cheddi was manoeuvred out of Office, Castro started to court the friendship of our new autocratic Prime Minister, Forbes Burnham, and more or less dropped his relationship with Cheddi. I learn from this that politics trumps decency; that politicians by and large are opportunists. Learning this first hand from a great and ethical politician like Cheddi Jagan was more powerful than learning this from textbooks.As to Janet Jagan, his wife, who, when he died, was elected President in our national elections, with an enhanced vote, she was an astonishingly generous host. My role was to edit and publish her short stories for children. She was a bit lonely in Guyana, in terms of only a few people to share her passion for the arts, so whenever I showed up, a bottle of wine was uncorked, or better still, a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream( we had a local equivalent). She too had been jailed by the British in 1953, so, again, I learnt from her intimate details of Guyana's struggle for independence, and the callousness of politicians ( Forbes Burnham had attempted to murder her in the 1964 but his bomb went off in the wrong place in the Party's Headquarters, killing a young activist instead, Michel Forde. Janet suffered from minor injuries.)As to Walter Rodney, Guyana's internationally renowned historian, assassinated by Forbes Burnham and the State apparatus in 1980( the International Commission of Enquiry into his death was issued to Guyana's Parliament last month), it was an enlightened decision on the part of the University of Warwick to set up an annual Memorial Lecture . The Walter Rodney lecture has been given, since 1985, by some of our leading Caribbean scholars, like Hilary Beckles, Carolyn Cooper, Harold Goulbourne, Michael Gilkes, Clem Seecharan, Ken Ramchand, Verene Shepherd and others.I don't think I have proved myself as a politician in any concrete way. My only possible 'political' act was, in 2012-2013 lobbying the Government of Guyana vigorously and regularly to set up an International Commission of Enquiry into the death of Walter Rodney. I took full advantage of my friendship with the then President, Donald Ramotar, who was readily sympathetic to Pat Rodney's written request for such an Inquiry( Walter's widow). As a member of the Walter Rodney Foundation's Advisory Group, I liaised with Pat Rodney and in 2013 the Government of Guyana agreed to set up the Commission. I don't think this was a 'political' act on my part, merely the obligation I felt to Walter Rodney, a fellow academic whose books were monumental. RB: How do you define politics?DD: In a small underdeveloped or developing country, politics normally is about the acquisition of power over state resources for the benefit of family and friends. Idealism goes out of the window as soon as the politician assumes Office; the struggle then is for survival and continuation of Office, so very little good gets done, political energy being spent on maintaining and expanding the arena of privilege. Exceptions are rare, people like CheddiJagan, Nelson Mandela…Cheddi was famous for his frugal lifestyle. He died intestate, owning no property. He never stole from the national treasury, rare for a politician from the developing world. Had Rodney lived, he would have been a leader of exemplary ethics. I should add my admiration for a previous, undemocratically elected President of Guyana, Desmond Hoyte, who, long before the Rio Summit and long before 'Climate Change' was topical, bequeathed a million acres of Guyana's rainforest to the Commonwealth, for the study of sustainable development (the Iwokrama Project). This was in 1989. It was an act of rare vision by a Caribbean politician. So, politicians like Hoyte might have been elected by crookery, but can prove to be significant and visionary leaders. I enjoyed cordial relations with him, when he was President (1985-1992) as well as when he was Leader of the Opposition, again based on books. We talked a lot about Egbert Martin, the first Guyanese poet and short story writer (19th century), and about the Guyana Prize for Literature which he had instituted in 1987, in the hope of bolstering the literary and intellectual life of Guyana and its Diaspora. He had a wonderful library, and he cared deeply for literary achievement. We talked little about party politics, except about the sharing of political power and the Mandela Rainbow ideal. Towards the end of his life he was all for power sharing, though he had enough integrity to worry about where oppositional ideas would come from if we were all in alliance. RB: Do your political affairs affect your creative writing?DD: There is no direct link, though I have written about the dereliction of Guyana under the autocratic rule of Forbes Burnham. My new novel-in-progress, set partly in China, is provoked by the unimaginable cruelty imposed on the people by the Emperors and their warlords. So, politics breeds in me a despair which can stimulate writing. One of the great disappointments, living in Britain, was Tony Blair's loss of idealism ( he seemed abundantly idealistic , which is why people voted him into Office in 1992) and the lies he told about Iraq's military capacity to justify a hideous and bloody invasion of Iraq. On the other hand, in Britain, there were politicians like Jo Cox, who was visionary and full of promise( she was murdered recently), and who made all of us feel hopeful and glad to be alive. If only we had a handful of such politicians in Guyana! I am privileged to enjoy a long-standing friendship with Clare Short, the former Labour politician whose heart is as big as Mount Kilimanjaro.RB: You have often depicted Guyanese characters and settings in your fiction such as Disappearance (1993), The Counting House (1996), and Our Lady of Demerara (2004). Does it mean that you still live in your past? and that you know yourself devoted to your homeland?DD: I do live in the past, in that my childhood in Guyana left indelible memories of family and friends and village landscape. Especially the creole language we spoke at home, and the creative tension with the 'proper' English we spoke at school. The slippages between the two are fascinating, with potential for comedy and pathos. The vigour of creole is always with me.Leaving Guyana as a boy was exciting (the prospect of adventure) but then proved to be lonely and hurtful, since I was never settled in England. On the one hand, England was a world of books but at the same time a world of grunting and guttural 'skinheads' daubing racist slogans on walls and threatening to assault immigrants. London has changed profoundly since the 60's and 70's, it is now a diverse space, enriched by waves of immigrants from the Commonwealth and from Europe. There is still a strong undercurrent of racial hostility, but more in the north of England, hence the recent vote to leave the European Community. Many in the north of England have not got accustomed to the loss of Empire and the new order of the free movement of goods and people. This hostility is at the ideological level, and contradictory, because on a day to day level, people are, by and large, decent to each other, irrespective of ethnicity. London is different; it is run by people of immigrant backgrounds: nurses, doctors, builders, hotel and retail staff, care workers. I am astonished at how much has changed, and I am excited to be living in London. The creative energy of the city is palpable, and the diversity of people is inspiring. I no longer feel culturally or physically threatened, as in the 1960's and 1970's. In other words, I feel London is home, but so is Guyana. I return to Guyana at least once a year, to renew my sense of the past, to be refreshed by creole language and creole ways, and to be awed and terrified by the rainforest. I also keep writing about Guyana partly out of a sense of obligation to the place. We only have a handful of writers, so I feel it is important to write about the place. Guyana came into modern being, in a sense, through literature: I am thinking specifically of Walter Raleigh's DISCOVERIE OF GUIANA (1596), the first text about us. RB: Why do you often depict historical tensions and challenge traditional cultural representations of the slave in your novels?DD: Guyanese history, in relation to contact with Europe, is stark: the decimation of indigenous people, the enslavement of Africans, the system of Indian indentureship. It is stark in terms of the immensity of suffering, and the sheer injustices of colonial rule. Yet, we became acquainted with Samuel Johnson's DICTIONARY and the magical properties of the English language; with the lyricism and storytelling of the Bible, of Shakespeare, of Victorian poetry. These new texts supplemented the ones we brought from Africa and India ( the KORAN, the RAMAYANA) . Ancient and living Carib, Arawak and other Amerindian stories fertilised the situation. We rewrote and reimagined our inheritance, hence Walcott, Naipaul, Jean Rhys, Pauline Melville, Grace Nichols, John Agard, and a host of others. I write about the injustice (historical, but also self-inflicted in our postcolonial condition) but more about the urge to creativity and expression that emerged from being on the margins; the fierce resolve to become educated, literate, creative, venturing beyond boundaries. Our postcolonial politicians may have failed us repeatedly, but I am forever astonished at how resilient Guyanese are. When I visit parts of India, parts of China, the nature of poverty there is brutal and overwhelming. We don't have that level of deprivation, because we have created the means of survival and the prospect of abundance, whether on the plate or on the page. RB: Do you believe that there is any nation on earth that enjoys true freedom and independence?DD: I don't know what true freedom or independence mean, we are all constrained and liberated and catapulted into creativity by being with each other. However, I recall what Walcott said about slavery: that the enslaved African being herded to the cane fields would have seen something sensationally beautiful along the way, given how lush Caribbean landscapes are. A hummingbird or kiskadee or blue-saki or brightly coloured viper…Walcott said that such encounters with beauty were moments of freedom which could only be partially understood, partially described, because they also contained the seeds of tragedy and terror. If you venture into Guyana's rainforest, you will experience the sublime which contain elemental terror and a tragic sense of how life is constantly being destroyed and remade and destroyed by tooth and claw.[1] Ruzbeh Babaee[2] David Dabydeen