Revolution on the Nile

In just eight days a new country, the Republic of South Sudan, will be born. It’s a huge step – but not the last step – in a 55-years-and-counting struggle for dignity and self-determination.

The south’s departure from Sudan has been as troubled as its union, with the recent fighting in Southern Kordofan and Abyei, as well as continuing insurgencies by southern renegades including George Athor and Peter Gadet. The Lord’s Resistance Army, too, remains active in the western part of the new country.

These are only the most obvious and immediate challenges faced by the southern people. Southern Sudan’s leaders, its people, and its nascent institutions will have to struggle mightily to prevent their new state from resembling the old Sudan in its approach to human rights, inclusivity, opportunity, and rule of law.

None of this should take away from the gigantic achievement that southern Independence represents. Millions died and millions more were made homeless, and endured famine, captivity and fear to get to July 9: A delicious and hugely challenging Year One. Democracy entails the right of the people and their representatives to make mistakes, to take responsibility for those errors (to “own” them, in the current parlance) and make corrections. It won’t be at all easy. But it’s a great, historic moment.

On July 5, Penguin Books will publish Revolution on the Nile, my new Afterword to The Black Nile, as an “e-special” available on the Kindle, the Nook, and Apple’s iPad, iPhone, and iTouch, as well as other e-readers. Revolution on the Nile updates The Black Nile with an account of south Sudan’s January freedom referendum, squashed attempts at public protest in northern Sudan, and the electrifying revolt against Hosni Mubarak in Egypt.

Continue reading “Revolution on the Nile”

Mubarak’s Nigerian Billions

It was only a matter of time before I got my hands on a suitcase full of sweaty Egyptian pound notes.

—– Original Message —–
From: Andrew Brudenell <andrew@assetmanagement.hsbc.com>
To: undisclosed-recipients <undisclosed-recipients:;>
Sent: Sat Mar 26 06:40:26 2011
Subject: Hosni Mubarak.

Hello friend,

I am a private banker CFA Portfolio Manager to Hosni Mubarak at HSBC Asset Management, London England, UK. Continue reading “Mubarak’s Nigerian Billions”

The Dam Bursts in Egypt

I’m not in Egypt, and I wish I was. Here’s a piece I wrote for Slate.com on the exhilarating and hard-won freedom from fear that has overtaken hundreds of thousands of Egyptians.

Meanwhile, as the deadly battle for control of Tahrir Square continues, with at least five dead at the hands of government-organized mobs, a few notes based on conversations with friends on the ground.

* The protests had been peaceful since the black-helmeted riot police were routed earlier this week – “a textbook Gandhian uprising,” as the Al Jazeera English anchor just described it. The young protesters controlling the square were checking people for weapons before allowing them to enter (“I got patted down in the nicest way,” said one female friend, this in a city well-known for the sexual harassment of women.) The violence started with the arrival of pro-Mubarak thugs carrying blades, clubs, razors, firebombs and guns. “A lot of people are going to die, and it’s because Hosni Mubarak, 82 and suffering from pancreatic cancer, does not know when to leave the cocktail party.” Continue reading “The Dam Bursts in Egypt”