Archive for May 24th, 2008

Two of Africa’s lesser known nations are embroiled in a border dispute over a dusty patch of the Horn of Africa. According to the New York Times, Djibouti and Eritrea have troops stationed face-to-face in a strategic coastal region which controls access to the important shipping lanes through the Red Sea. The Eritrean domestic situation has been exceedingly dismal and some observers attest that this new geopolitical conflict has been designed to distract disgruntled citizens.

This distasteful tactic is well-known to any student of history: too often nationalism is cultivated to put off needed reforms. The creation of an “other” serves to unify the state into a body whereby their own disagreements are ignored, not solved.

However, as the original article is quick to point out, amidst the excruciatingly arcane politics of geographic disputes is the fact that both the United States and France support Djibouti and maintain military presences there. Given the Eritrean leader’s new bilateral agreements with Iran, and America’s support for Eritrea’s foe, Ethiopia, in recent disputes with Somalia, it is unlikely the West will look kindly on displays of Eritrean force.

[Photo: Jehad Nga for The New York Times]

On Wednesday, the White House announced that it was permitting Americans to send Cuban relatives cell phones. This followed Raul Castro’s policy change which allowed the ownership of cell phones in the oppressive one-party state. To me this is a no-brainer and hopefully indicative of a broader American policy which recognizes the failure of the 40 year embargo which has neither removed Communist rule or bettered the economic position of the Cubans.

Not only should free speech and its tools be encouraged in the States, the agency enhancement - economic, political and social - which results from mobile communication should be actively supported abroad. For example, amidst Kenyan post-election turmoil earlier this year, a tool was created called Ushahidi which allowed Kenyans to report in real-time, via text message, incidences of violence. More generally, the merits of cell phones are often noted when producers need to determine distant market prices.

However, even though Cubans may now own cell phones, questions of infrastructure remain. A joint venture between the Cuban carrier and Telecom Italia is said to be expanding, but as long as we are in the business of providing wireless communication to Cuba (as we do with Radio and TV Marti) why not provide cell phone coverage and encourage Americans to send unlocked mobile devices?