The historian Publius Cornelius Tacitus is credited with the quotation, "They make a wilderness, and call it peace". Assuming that I'm not taking it out of context or using it incorrectly, that quotation often comes to mind when I think of US Preside...
One of the big mysteries of Zimbabwean politics is the metamorphosis of Prof Jonathan Moyo. A former critic of Robert Mugabe and his party, Moyo suddenly switched allegiances and helped keep Mugabe and Zanu-PF in power. Although there has been plenty...
In a 1949 essay titled "The Economic Development of Latin America and its Principle Problems", Argentinean economist Raúl Prebisch challenged the current economic orthodoxy. His contention was that "mainstream" economic thought, promoted by countrie...
Recent events in Zimbabwe have reminded me of the 2000 Taylor Hackford film Proof of Life. The basic plot has a contractor kidnapped by rebels in a fictional Latin American setting. A negotiator is tasked with ensuring the contractor’s release. Dur...
I remember, as a poor varsity student, begging and borrowing money to visit Cape Town. A former schoolmate who had relocated to that beautiful city invited me to spend the week with him there. After some financial gymnastics, I eventually scraped eno...
Reality television seems to have really caught on. If you look hard enough, you will find a show where someone's doing something you’re into and is being followed around by a production crew. I'm surprised no-one has come up with a show that gets a...
If Princeton economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is to be believed, 2009 could be a very tricky year. Forget tricky; it has the potential to be an outright disaster. The sad thing is that this financial mess will probably affect weake...
It has been said that evaluated experience is the best teacher. Assuming that is true, there is a lot that can be gained from looking back on 2008 and trying to glean whatever lessons experience may have to offer. I live far away, on a small island o...
I remember giving up on my country a couple of years ago. I remember being really frustrated with the national fixation on Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe and not being able to see beyond the struggle that was day to day life. I imagined that the...
The 60th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is as good a time as any to discuss Africa’s standing with respect to those rights.
Koffi Annan once noted that human rights are often treated as some “ric...
Bryan used to be a doctor in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. To cut a long story short, he now lives in Ireland where he is a freelance columnist and post-grad student.
People keep asking him why he no longer practices medicine. His default response -- which, believe it or not, is true -- has something to do with wanting to make a difference. Every now and then he will throw in his theory that the way to do that is through social and political change. Sad, I know...
Bryan spends way too much time trying to figure out what is wrong with the world, and how to fix it. In his defence, he is a doctor, after all.
Bryan's links
Daily Blog Daily (for the most part) thoughts on 'life, the universe and everything' from the perspective of an African immigrant in Ireland.
Personal Website If you'd like to find out more about me, or to get in touch, this is probably the best place to do it.
