My following essay appears in Al Jazeera America: On a blazing hot March day in the town of Ganyiel in South Sudan’s Unity state, 19-year-old Elizabeth cautiously smiled. Born in Yei, a southwestern town near the border with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the young woman was unafraid to criticize her country’s leaders.…
Showing all posts tagged United States
What aid dependence does to South Sudan
My following essay appears in Al Jazeera English: The book launch was held in a large restaurant last weekend in the middle of the South Sudanese capital, Juba. Veteran journalist and editor of The Citizen, Victor Keri Wani, was being celebrated for his 40 years in the media business, an eternity in a country that…
In Ganyiel, South Sudanese face food and life challenges
My following story appears in today’s Guardian: Angela has been living in the remote town of Ganyiel, in South Sudan’s Unity state, for 18 months. Trying to feed her five children has been hard. Angela is angry with the country’s warring parties. “I pray for peace,” she says. “But if they won’t stop the conflict,…
How US evangelicals influence South Sudan and Africa
My following feature appears in the Guardian US: In the small town of Yei, in southern South Sudan, missionary reverend Shelvis Smith-Mather closed his eyes and prayed. On a searing hot February day, wearing a yellow tie and dusty black shoes, the 35-year-old man from Atlanta, Georgia, was opening a community forum dedicated to reconciliation…
ABC Radio Adelaide on disaster capitalism
This week I’ve been in Adelaide for its literary festival. The events, outdoors and free, have been huge, drawing well over 1200 people per session. I was interviewed by ABC Adelaide about my work, including my recent book Profits of Doom:
How and why the "war on drugs" kills millions
My following book review appeared in the Weekend Australian on 28 February: Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs By Johann Hari Bloomsbury, 390pp, $29.99 The numbers are staggering. More than two million American citizens are in prison, about 25 per cent of the world’s incarcerated population. Many are…
What South Sudan faces on a daily basis
My Guardian column: The creaking Russian helicopter lands in an open field in remote Wai, a town in South Sudan’s Jonglei state. The sky is perfectly clear; the temperature reaches 45 degrees. Women wave the South Sudanese flag to welcome the UN’s top humanitarian official, Valerie Amos, who arrives with Unesco peace envoy and American…
UN head Valerie Amos backs arms embargo on South Sudan
My following story appears in today’s Guardian (I’m currently based in Juba, South Sudan): Valerie Amos has joined calls for an arms embargo against South Sudan, the most senior UN official to back growing international demands for action against the country as it enters a second year of civil war. “Anything that takes weapons off…
The devastating cry of Guantanamo Bay inmate Fahd Ghazy
A powerful short film from the Centre for Constitutional Rights on Yemeni man… Fahd Ghazy who has been imprisoned for 12 years. No crime. No guilt. This is what causes terrorism and resistance:
The ongoing importance of Wikileaks
My weekly Guardian column: The secret CIA files appeared just before Christmas. One detailed how CIA operatives could maintain cover, using fake IDs, when travelling through foreign airports. Israel’s Ben Gurion airport was said to be one of the… hardest to trick. The other document, from 2009, was an assessment of the CIA’s assassination program. It…