[I’ll post the link-heavy version of this in a couple of days, I think. Until then, enjoy…]
Is the war in Darfur genocide? Have American activists done anything to help stop the violence? On Tuesday, John Prendergast and Mahmood Mamdani faced off to try to answer these questions.
The buzz on the Columbia campus this week was that the debate would be the Ali-versus-Foreman of intellectual match-ups.
And that’s pretty much how it happened. On Tuesday, John Prendergast, co-chair of the ENOUGH Project and a prominent advocate working with the Save Darfur Coalition, went toe-to-toe with Mahmood Mamdani, a Columbia University professor of government and anthropology who is Save Darfur’s most scathing critic. Read more…
Very nice summary of the event and identification of the key issues. Was there any discussion on Mamdani’s part of what a better approach to the crisis would look like?
Texas in Africa, sorry for the delay in response. Undoubtedly one of the biggest holes that Prendergast could have exploited for the purpose of the debate is Mamdani’s lack of specific suggestions for a better approach. I don’t remember anything more specific than that Africa should be empowered to solve its own problems.
And even though that “suggestion” is pretty vague and simple, I still find it a thought-provoking one.