Live 8 Concerts Approaching

Next Saturday night, July 2, the Live 8 concerts will be taking place around the world–London, Paris, Rome, Philadelphia, Berlin, Barrie, Tokyo and Johannesberg. You can learn all about the Live 8 effort here and here.

I’ve supported this effort by Bob Geldof and many others to ease the misery of African poverty for a number of reasons. First, I have high regard for Geldof. He is extraordinarily well-informed and is hard-headed when it comes to the need for political reform in Africa. Political reform is the quid pro quo for the assistance the Live 8 group is pushing for, and that is as it should be. Second, the humanitarian case for aid to Africa–assuming it is administered sensibly–is overwhelming. And, finally, the geopolitical case for doing what we can to help the forces of progress in Africa seems to me to be a slam dunk. We have all seen the fruits of decades of neglect–benign neglect, we thought at the time–of the Arab world. Today, Africa is a key battleground in the war against terror. Whatever we spend now on helping to bring hope and progress to that long-benighted continent is a drop in the bucket compared to what another generation of conflict will cost us.
And progress is being made in Africa. While basket cases like Zimbabwe and Sudan dominate the headlines, economic growth rates in a number of countries are excellent. And political reform is coming to more and more African countries.
Within the next 48 hours, we will have exciting news for bloggers worldwide relating to the Live 8 concerts. Stay tuned.