Spiraling Out of Control

Last summer, I had the pleasure of sitting down with a former intelligence officer and speaking with her about her experiences in Africa during a particular tour of duty in the early 1990s.  She described to myself and a few other students that those of us whom had a great interest in Africa were what they like to call “snakebitten”.  You see, the way she described it, not just anyone could be enamored with the Africa continent and its hotspots.  Instead, it took a special kind of individual, one whom wasn’t afraid to get outside of their comfort zone.  It took the kind of person who is willing to sacrifice a part of themselves in order to bring the greater good to others whether it be at home or abroad.

I was hooked.

I started exploring the continent of Africa as much as I could through my studies and did various research papers dealing with the challenges that the continent faces.  From doing all of these different things I came to one fairly obvious conclusion that I think we can all agree on: Africa cannot fix its problems without some support from the rest of the world.  Many have realized this and subsequently begun campaigns to help the impoverished nations on the continent through things such as hunger drives and other forms of humanitarian aid.  Unfortunately, this is all a complete waste of time.

Africa’s problems run much deeper than simply feeding the hungry or taking a few warlords out of power.  According to Foreign Policy, seven of the top ten failed states in the world are on the African continent. Beyond the the top ten there are many others that have also failed or are on the brink within Africa. Until the problem of the failed state is solved, which will take a multilateral effort of never-before-seen proportions, Africa is doomed to continue down the dangerous path that it is currently on.

Why are failed states so dangerous? Well, for one, failed states can be breeding grounds for terrorists.  The danger of this speaks for itself.  Secondly, they have no organized governments. This means, for example, that if a shipment of food were to go into a country, there would be no means of organized distribution and therefore it would never get out to those it was meant to help. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, there is a domino theory that has been hypothesized with failed states. While one failed state in a region may not lead to other directly failing, they do create negative repercussions that entire regions feel. There are refugee overflows, wars that spill over borders, and a general upheaval of order that can occur as a result of failed or failing states.

What does this all mean for Africa?  That’s simple… nothing can be solved until the international community can get together and figure out how to deal with the phenomenon of the failed state. You can’t feed the hungry, you can’t stop wars, you can’t do anything until there is some form of order. Clearly this is much easier said than done and I don’t have an answer. It will in one way or another involve large military presences most likely, which will make it all the more difficult to get done. If the world doesn’t get together and act soon though, things in certain regions of Africa may spiral to a point where there is no coming back.

That is, if they haven’t gotten there already.

US Open is more than Golf

I won’t lie, I don’t really know how this whole blogging thing works.  I’ve never been a part of a blog before.  The closest thing I have done is act as the editor of the opinions section of my collegiate newspaper.  “Act” is the key word in that sentence. Yet, despite these things, here I am, pretending to be an authority on things going on around the world.  Oh well, maybe some sucker out there might listen to me.

Picking a topic for an initial post is actually quite a large a decision.  On one hand (assuming people will actually be reading this) you want to write about something you know a great deal about so you seem credible in the future.  On the other hand, it’s important to write about something that people will actually care about and therefore keeps them coming back for more.

I really didn’t want to write about sports.  I talk about them enough as is with friends and coworkers, but being that the blog is being created the weekend of the United States’ Open and being that I am an avid golfer I don’t really think I have a choice.  It won’t only be about golf though.  See, this year’s Open is about more than just golf.  This year’s Open is about more than traditional sportsmanship.  This year’s Open is about family and what makes the PGA Tour the greatest organization of professional athletes in the entire world.

Let me start by saying this:  I don’t like Phil Mickelson.  There are not many things I gain greater pleasure from than watching Tiger Woods beat him.  Not many things have made my laugh harder than when we imploded on the 72nd hole at Shinnecock Hills.

Let me continue by saying this:  I love Tiger Woods.  Him, along with Sergio Garcia, John Senden, and Adam Scott makeup my favorite professional golfers in the world.  This is mainly based on their golf swings which I aspire to mold together to form into one unstoppable force of ball striking.  Watching any one of these men beat Phil Mickelson makes for a perfect Sunday afternoon as far as I’m concerned.

This year though, things are a little bit different.  Not long ago, Phil’s wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer and it is widely assumed that this could be his last major, let alone tournament of the year.  As much as I don’t like the guy, I do like the competition he adds to the Tour and I would never wish the hardships his family will endure in the coming months upon anyone.  Amy has been quoted as saying that she wants the trophy in her hospital room when she has surgery a few weeks down the line and any fan of golf knows that Mickelson will be doing everything he can to deliver it to her in the coming days.

These events have shown what makes the PGA Tour the great organization that it is. Players and officials have thrown their hearts at Mickelson in support.  Even his rival and usually stone-faced Tiger Woods has given some public statements in the days leading up to the opening round.  Lefty is really wearing his heart on his sleeve here and I think that there are some lessons we could all learn from in that respect.

That being said, you probably think I’m about to jump up on the Mickelson bandwagon and hope for him to be at the top of the heap come Sunday (weather permitting) night.  That could not be further from the truth though.  I don’t think Phil would want that.  Tiger certainly didn’t ask for it after his father died… he just went out on the course and won it for Earl.

I think Phil would want me to keep cheering against him.  I think that he thrives on that stuff, as many of the best athletes in the world do.  So go Tiger.  Go Sergio.  Go Adam.

Then again though, if it is Phil that is left standing at the end I can say for once that I won’t be the least bit upset with the outcome of this year’s Open.  So while I still will cheer for my normal favorites at Bethpage, I won’t be upset if Amy wakes up from her surgery with that trophy staring her in the face.