Kudos to Adam Nossiter, the New York Times’ man in Dakar, for today’s piece on mixed feelings about the French across Francophone Africa. (He even pulled it off without mentioning Rwanda, whose relationship with France is so troubled it skews the curve.) France is often seen as quietly backing, well, the bad guys — Mobutu comes to mind, as does Habyarimana, the president whose underlings committed the Rwandan genocide. And those are just two countries….Adam has more.
It’s a great piece that takes the temperature of a compelling question…which, alas, has no easy answer. To strong man, or not to strong man? C’est la question.
