I’m learning a lot with this African-Country-a-Week series. Like: Western Sahara is not part of Morocco. While I was crossing Morocco off the map, I noticed that a goodly area that looked like it was part of the country was actually disputed territory. Here’s the story: This was once a Spanish colony, known as Spanish… [Read More]
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Category: Africa
Egypt: “The Yacoubian Building” by Alaa Al Aswany
The situation in Egypt is moving far too quickly for me to give you a solid investment recommendation. I doubt anyone could right now; this country is a gamble. Egypt has an educated population and a diversified economy, but the economy has not been growing and it does not have oil. This has greatly contributed… [Read More]
Libya: “In the Country of Men” by Hisham Matar
Libya has six million people and lots of oil, making it a wealthy country by the standards of North Africa. Nevertheless, it is a country with a lot of problems. My original plan was to find a book on the history of Libya but was scared off by the number of screeds about the attacks… [Read More]
Tunisia: “Mediterranean Winter” by Robert D. Kaplan
Tunisia is a small country, with a population of about 10 million people. It was also long considered more stable than Morocco, with its constantly changing colonial relationships, and Algeria, which held a revolution against France. But in recent years, Tunisia’s citizens have been protesting against high unemployment, corruption, and rising food prices. it culminated… [Read More]
Algeria: “The Plague” by Albert Camus
I read The Plague for Algeria. It’s not the most definitive book about the country, but I had not read it despite its having been on my shelf for years. (If you are looking for some books about the political and cultural history of Algeria, here’s a great list.) Albert Camus set an examination of… [Read More]
