Africa

by Yolanda Martinez

The price of anti-retroviral treatment is prohibitive for most patients in developing countries, but a new integrated approach may succeed at reversing the pandemic by addressing more than just access to medication.

Published In: Volume 3, Issue 2: Modern Healthcare Policy — October 13, 2006

by Benjamin Todd

General Kurtz muttered “the horror…the horror” at the end of Joseph Conrad’s 19th century novel Heart of Darkness. Widely regarded as a literary masterpiece, Joseph Conrad’s novel tells the story of Marlow sailing up the Congo River to find the lost General Kurtz. Heart of Darkness is set against the backdrop of what was then the Belgian Congo, now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). However, the unrest, brutality, exploitation, and “horror” that Conrad describes in his novel are unfortunately not a thing of the past. Modern day DRC is still the scene of unrest and civil war with various armed groups fighting the government and each other. Unlike the Congo of Conrad’s day, the current violence is between ethnic groups, political factions, and nations, and is fueled by modern weapons and financed by the exploitation of the DRC‘s natural resources. This paper explores the relationship of conflict commodities, global markets, and the DRC‘s continuing civil war. In particular, the author focuses on the Columbite-Tantalum (coltan) boom the DRC experienced between 1999 and 2000.

Published In: Volume 3, Issue 1: Globalization and its Implications — March 15, 2006