Dark Heart of Belgium

In 1885, a large amount of territory at the heart of Africa along the Congo River, heavily populated and featuring a wealth of natural resources but little explored by Westerners, was granted to the king of the small, neutral European nation of Belgium. The idea was allow free trade and not upset the balance of European power in Africa between Britain, France and Germany. King Leopold II would also "civilize" the inhabitants of the territory. Leopold brutally exploited the Congo Free State, leading to the death of millions. In 1908, international outcry about human rights violations caused Belgium's government to take away the personal possession of its king and administer what became known as the Belgian Congo directly. Leopold died in 1909 after 44 years in power. I hear Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost is a good account of the history of the Congo Free State, and it's on my to-read list.

Like 15 other African countries, the Congo became independent in 1960. King Baudouin visited Leopoldville to celebrate independence, but it wasn't an entirely friendly affair. His ceremonial sword was snatched upon his arrival. And the new prime minister Patrice Lumumba's speech was not exactly diplomatic: "For this independence of the Congo, even as it is celebrated today with Belgium, a friendly country with whom we deal as equal to equal, no Congolese worthy of the name will ever be able to forget that it was by fighting that it has been won, a day-to-day fight, an ardent and idealistic fight, a fight in which we were spared neither privation nor suffering, and for which we gave our strength and our blood. We are proud of this struggle, of tears, of fire, and of blood, to the depths of our being, for it was a noble and just struggle, and indispensable to put an end to the humiliating slavery which was imposed upon us by force." Western press was outraged, as this contemporary piece from The Guardian attests. Lumumba lasted in office for less than three months in independent Congo, deposed in a coup and murdered several months later, by Congolese opponents but with the complicity of the CIA and and Belgium.

Congo's history of tragedy has continued. Belgium has been less involved, though it gives more foreign aid to its former colony than anywhere else, and there is a fair-sized Congolese population in Brussels. I often walk through the neighborhood of Matonge, named after a part of Kinshasa and lined with African restaurants and shops, on my walk home from work.

Last week, I took the tram from Brussels to the nearby town of Tervuren, where the Royal Museum of Central Africa is housed on an extensive campus near the woods. A series of wooden elephants greet you as you walk up to the doors of the massive building.

Inside a domed foyer featuring several golden statues, my eyes were drawn first to the one on my left. A bearded figure who seemed to be Leopold comforted a Congolese child. "Belgium brings civilization to the Congo," the inscription read. In another, a golden woman "brought charity to the Congo." In another, a turbaned Arab mistreated a naked Congolese woman, representing slavery, which Belgium "ended."

The museum is one of the most interesting I've ever visited in many ways. It is a treasure trove of ethnographic artifacts like masks and statues and preserved specimens of central Africa's rich biodiversity, mammals, giant birds, giant insects. But the historical element is most fascinating, and troubling. Famous for being slow to change from a proud moment to colonial adventure of particular infamy, the RMCA now does confront the dark side of Belgians in the Congo. But barely. In the least revised room, a tall statue of Leopold stands in one corner, a leopard murder cult figure stands over a sleeping man he is about to kill, and all of the Belgians killed in service in the Congo are listed in two large placards on the wall. Henry Morton Stanley, the famous explorer of "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" fame who helped Leopold open the Congo for business, gets a mostly valedictory treatment. Leopold does not come out looking good from an exhibit on the history of the colony, I believe based on a "history-confronting" exhibition from several years ago (Hochschild, for one, was not impressed), but details of atrocities are largely left out. The independence moment is well-covered, in a fairly neutral tone, noting Lumumba's dissonance in the otherwise friendly handover of power. You can listen to a recording of the catchy "Independence Cha Cha." It doesn't say what happened to Lumumba, or the Congo, next.

A young woman grabbed us on our way out to poll us about what we thought about the museum. I like this initiative, which I've never seen before from a museum. The animals and masks are great for kids - that is what would have really fascinated a 12-year-old me. But the history exhibit needs some work. There's something unique at the RMCA - I would not tear down the statues, it presents the way things were in a way that is quite illuminating. Just do a much better job of truly delving into Belgium's heart of darkness.

This Joke Isn't Funny Anymore

The shockwaves continue to reverberate through world politics after the resignation of Hosni Mubarak. I'm spending much of my time reading about the Middle East, news, blogs and live feeds - al Jazeera, The Arabist, the Guardian's live feed, Nicholas Kristof in Bahrain, and of course the young Netizens of the Middle East have all done great reporting, and I've found plenty of good commentary too.

There are far more brutal and evil men holding on to office in Iran and Libya - and surprisingly Bahrain - but one of the recently shaken leaders I'm most hoping to see thrown into the dustbin of history is unconnected to the uprisings and the Middle East for that matter, except that he claims he thought that 17-year-old Karima el-Mahroug aka "Ruby Heartstealer" was the granddaughter of his friend Mubarak.

Silvio Berlusconi has always been bad news for Italy, unfit to lead because of retention of his media holdings, more concerned about protecting himself from prosecution than leading Europe's fourth greatest power (sic). But it has never been quite as blatantly, shamelessly obvious to the entire world that this emperor has no clothes as in recent months. Tried by a jury of three women, representing the half of humanity which he has consistently debased as well as the spirit and letter of the law, I hope he is convicted and gets what he deserves.

In fact, I'm not sure Berlusconi hasn't damaged his country more than Mubarak or Ben Ali his. They were garden-variety secular dictators running repressive authoritarian systems in a part of the world that has seen little else in the past half-century. If they had never been born, similar men would most likely have played a similar role, taking off the uniform, never relinquishing power, letting their countries stagnate as the modern world passes them by. Globalization and a youth bulge have helped bring the Middle East to where it is now, awakening from false stability to a time of turbulence driven by the demands of a frustrated and young population.

Italy has the opposite of a youth bulge, it is one of the world's oldest countries per capita because contraception caught on a few decades ago. And its politicians have rarely been particularly virtuous - Bettino Craxi fled to Tunisia to avoid being jailed for corruption. But two decades ago, its political system was turned upside down by that wide ranging corruption scandal, Tangentopoli. The dominant party for 40 years vanished. There was an opportunity for Italy to move forward. And since Berlusconi lasted less than a year in his first term as prime minister in 1994, Italy did move forward, improving public finances, meeting the requirements for entry into the EU's new common currency through hard work.

But then Berlusconi was elected again. He is a unique political figure with really no discernable virtues, unless you define him negatively - if you disagree with the Italian left, Berlusconi keeps them out of power. The man certainly does not lead. He clowns, and he protects himself from prosecution for his crimes. There are able figures in the Italian government, and the country has not fallen apart, it has performed surprisingly well in the economic crisis over the past three years, while sovereign debt crises have smote Greece and threatened Portugal and Spain. But the fish rots from the head, and the head is rotting.

There is a saying that people get the government they deserve. And Berlusconi does retain popular legitimacy. But his actions and his character outweigh his popular support. Italy is a beautiful country with many wonderful people. And they deserve far better than Berlusconi for their prime minister.

The Revolution Will Be Tweeted / Belgium Does It!

So I finally set up a Twitter account this morning, grabbing my actual name before somebody else did. Drop by and leave a message to welcome me to the Twitterverse.

In other news, Belgium has now gone 249 days without a government, officially tying Iraq for the world record (the link is a news story explains why the elected parties have not been able to form a government, despite the best efforts of King Albert and a series of mediators, for a more basic summary of why Belgium doesn't function like a normal country, check out this video). Actually there is a caretaker government, as well as local administration, so there is hardly anarchy, but people are not happy about the lack of a government. We heard street protests from our rooftop at the office this afternoon. We'll see if they get a government by the time I leave the country.

A New Career in A New Town

In late October, I was on my way to a second-round job interview, coming up from the Metro, when I received a voicemail message that I had been selected for one of the research assistant positions at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Brussels. I had gotten my application in just before the deadline a week prior, and was thinking about my interview, so it took me by surprise, but it was definitely great news. It probably didn't help me at the interview, but because I didn't get that job I didn't have a tough decision to make. I would be moving to Europe, for the fourth time, to live in a fifth European city and fourth European country - one that I had never before visited, but which as the capital of the EU is a place that I was sure I would like to work and live in at some point in my life.

After what feels like a long wait, I arrived in Belgium on Saturday, enjoying time with friends, frites, beer, and Art Nouveau architecture in Ixelles. I'm also learning French on the fly, grocery stores and cafes are not a bad place to learn. Today I walked many miles through the city, picking up keys for my apartment and exploring for another five hours. The center has its charms, the morning light on the Grande Place was beautiful, but I also liked seeing the EU's government buildings, which are in the neighborhood to which I will be moving in several days, the European Commission's Berlaymont Building will greet me as I enter and leave the Schuman Metro stop on my way too and from work. A giant banner on the building welcomes Estonia into the Eurozone. Yes the timing is terrible, but as the Estonians point out, the kroon was tied to the Euro anyways with a peg from the beginning. Before I left Maryland, I searched for my Deutschmarks and Austrian schillings from a 2001 trip to Munich so as to add my 10 kroon note to the collection of historic currencies, but they appear to have escaped somewhere.

I arrive in Belgium as the current issue of The New Yorker features an article by Ian Buruma entitled "Le Divorce." A few years ago Buruma wrote an excellent and pithy book explaining the story of the Netherlands and Islam over the previous few years, starring the late Pim Fortuyn, the late Theo van Gogh and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, as Geert Wilders had not yet taken the stage. (Incidentally, as I wandered into the European complex today, I noticed two offices in a parliament office building displayed posters for Wilders' party). The new article is even more pithy at five pages, and explains the background and dangers to the current state of Belgium - without a government for more than six months for the second time in four years. The impression you get is that Brussels is the last Belgian city - the rest is Flemish or Walloonian, and the capital is what is holding this relatively young (180 years) Western European country together. The condition of the country is on my mind, and I'll have more to say about this after more travel and observation.

I would link to the story, which is worth reading, except it's only accessible to New Yorker subscribers. So here are two quotes from it - an unflattering but wonderfully evocative description of one of Wallonia's largest cities, which gives a hint of why an independent Wallonia might not be such a fun place, and the conclusion of the piece:

"Charleroi is now a dilapidated, sooty town of boarded-up stores and broken glass in the streets, of strip joints, cheap Turkish kebab places, Eastern European gangsters, and middle-aged prostitutes strung out on heroin."

"... as Europe's bloody history shows, once nations, or empires, or unions fall apart, violence often follows. Bart De Wever, apparently the most benign of European nationalists, is leading his country to the brink of disintegration. A nation collapsing in the center of Europe would not bode well for the fragile state of the European Union. But then De Wever, as a historian, would be well aware of Belgium as the stage of shattered European dreams. Only ten miles from his office lies a town called Waterloo."

George Friedman's Geopolitical Journey

I've been following along for the past few weeks as George Friedman, the founder of STRATFOR and author of The Next 100 Years (which forecasts the wars and rise and fall of great powers over the next 100 years based on geopolitics), traveled through Turkey, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and Poland and wrote about it. I find geopolitical thinking fascinating. Zbigniew Brzezinski's The Grand Chessboard is the best book I know on the topic, thought it's more than a decade old, but Friedman and STRATFOR do good work too. Like me, he spends an inordinate amount of time thinking about the fascinating German-Russian relationship and how it is critical for Europe (and many argue for America as well). I don't agree with all of Friedman's forecasts (in his book he sees Japan,Turkey and Poland joining the US as the dominant powers of the 21st Century because China and Russia will collapse), but his Geopolitical Journey is definitely a good think and you can read it in bits and pieces, so here are links:

• Part 1: The Traveler
• Part 2: Borderlands
• Part 3: Romania
• Part 4: Moldova
• Part 5: Turkey
• Part 6: Ukraine
• Part 7: Poland
• Part 8: Returning Home

Embassies of Berlin

I spent about 24 hours in Berlin on Saturday and Sunday morning, a break at the end of 72-hour business trip (it was supposed to be 96 hours, with more than 3 hours in Berlin before I took a train to the Rhein, but my flight to New York was delayed and I missed my connection). And when I ran across this, I reverted to my old habit of photographing embassies. Yes, that is the Embassy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, we don't have one of those in Washington. It is unsurprisingly on the eastern side of where the Berlin Wall used to run. I discovered the large Czech embassy (and wondered if it was a renovated Warsaw Pact leftover or a new building) nearby. I resisted going overboard and only photographed two of the embassies in Germany's capital, however.

Unter den Linden, the great avenue of Berlin, runs from the Brandenburger Tor (the city gate where Reagan told Gorbachev to tear down the wall) on past Humboldt University towards the Museuminsel and Alexanderplatz. Called Mitte (it means "middle"), the area was the showpiece of the East German capital and I've enjoyed watching it change since my first visit to Berlin in 2003, when I lived there for a month (this was my fourth return). Near the Tor is a Starbucks just 100 meters into the former communist country, like a monument to capitalism. But about 200 m further on, a whole block is dominated by the Russians: their embassy and a large Aeroflot office (featuring their logo, a hammer and sickle with wings).

The Museuminsel, an island in the Spree, is named for the museums at its north end but also features the Berliner Dom and the now empty Schlossplatz, where the Palace of the Republic stood after the war-devastated Schloss (palace) of Prussia's rulers was torn down by the East Germans. Berlin tore down the Communist showpiece after 2006, when I last saw it, and is now rebuilding the Schloss, except that the city is broke. I read at an information booth about how Berlin had "lost its heart" when the Schloss was destroyed. I don't agree, Berlin has as much heart as any city I know. The Palace of the Republic had an asbestos problem, but the reasons for tearing it down go beyond that, obviously, although the decision was controversial. At a Fulbright event in Berlin in 2006 I asked a politician about preserving the historical and architectural legacy of the DDR such as the Palace of the Republic and Alexanderplatz. She chose to answer only about Alexanderplatz. I donated a euro to the building of the Schloss anyway, the open space is sort of nice, but I would like to see the finished project on a subsequent trip to Berlin someday.

Back at the Tor, a stone's throw from the Reichstag, there is a square called Pariser Platz. The French embassy stands on the square, but it was named in honor of the capture of Napoleon's Paris in 1814, not the embassy. The new US Embassy is also here on the square, and it makes me proud - it is the type of friendly-looking public embassy in the heart of a city which should be our model, when too often we built fortresses, even in the capitals of countries which are our friends. It was about 17 degrees Fahrenheit, but the gate at night was beautiful, with a Weihnachtsbaum as well as a giant menorah lit-up for the fifth night of Hanukkah. The scene (and thoughts of my next cup of Gluhwein) warmed me. Germany is an especially fascinating place right now, I can't wait to go back.

The Quiet American

Hey everyone. I'm going to try to make this site more bloggy rather than just posting lengthy analyses of international relations and such that I write myself and don't bother to try to get published. I just returned from a trip to Germany and have a few posts in mind.

Firstly, you may have noticed my list of books I'm reading and good books I've read recently on the sidebar. Yesterday, while traveling from Berlin to Washington via New York, I read Graham Greene's The Quiet American in its entirety, except the first chapter which I had read over coffee at the hostel in Berlin. I've read a few Greene novels, loved The End of the Affair, liked Our Man in Havana, was a little disappointed by Orient Express. But The Quiet American may be my new favorite novel. It's a bitter critique of America's Wilsonian foreign policy, a very perceptive novel about Vietnam (published in 1955!), delves thoughtfully into the themes of innocence, responsibility, and religion (particularly Roman Catholicism) as Greene does in so many of his novels, and it's a damn good story. I recommend it to you all. I'll probably wait a few months so see how Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser act it out in the film from a few years ago.

Also, my Bowdoin friend Conor Williams won the Washington Post's America's Next Top Pundit contest, so you should check out his blog. Congrats, Conor!