July 2014 – Addis Standard

“The Myth of Redemptive Violence on The Edge of Tomorrow”

Andrew DeCort

The moral of The Edge of Tomorrow’s story could be reduced to the old maxim, “If ever you don’t succeed, try, try again.” For a good cause, this is certainly worthwhile wisdom. But when confronted with a thoughtless or destructive pattern, this advice can reflect madness or a drive for death. In the case of Tom Cruise’s latest action flick, one worries that all of us should emphatically not “try, try again” but give up on its narrative

July 25, 2014

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Ethiopia’s Developmental Statism: Cynic diagnosis, naive prescriptions

Merkeb Negash, Special to Addis Standard

All previous articles on Ethiopian developmental statism on this magazine started with what the Ethiopian developmental state fails to be. It is argued that the Ethiopian state is nothing like the highly sophisticated state apparatus of the East Asian states and that it is – as a result- corrupt, soft and prone to capture. This pessimist diagnosis of the Ethiopian state is followed by highly ambitious, if not naïve, prescriptions that are neither necessary nor achievable at this level of socio-economic development.

July 25, 2014

Africa, Commentary

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Noisy Addis Abeba

No authority to speak louder than these

The streets of Addis Abeba have long become permanent exhibitions for earsplitting noises; it is no longer shocking to find schools and hospitals built adjoining bars, workshops and restaurants; nor residential quarters housing a host of bars and nightclubs; and churches, congregations and mosques are getting noisier by the day. Yet no authority seem concerned enough to speak louder

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July 25, 2014

Africa, Commentary

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