Equating war with individual evil has become ubiquitous – if not universal – in contemporary international politics. Wars are fights against evil tyrants and the illegitimate governments they control. Such rhetoric makes wars easier to justify, easier to wage, and easier to support, especially for elected leaders who must respond directly to swings in public opinion.  Such language works equally well for any society in today’s media-obsessed age.

Little wonder, then, that political leaders consistently personalize international conflicts. Alas, such commonplace language also makes wars harder to avoid, harder to end, and arguably more deadly.

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When I met Eunice Wangari at a Nairobi coffee shop recently, I was surprised to hear her on her mobile phone, insistently asking her mother about the progress of a corn field in her home village, hours away from the big city. A nurse, Wangari counts on income from farming to raise money to buy more land – for more farming.

Even though Wangari lives in Kenya’s capital, she is able to reap hundreds of dollars a year in profit from cash crops grown with the help of relatives. Her initial stake – drawn from her nursing wages of about $350 a month – has long since been recovered.

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Barack Obama and the Flying Circus is a perfect term to describe current President of the United States and his prominent cabinet.

For the past year and a half, every single day was, and still is, about Barack Obama and his extravaganza. A day just does not go by without Obama. What did Obama say? What did Obama do? What will Obama say? What will Obama do? In addition, we have witnessed media madness for Obama’s dog, Obama’s family, Obama’s citizenship, Obama’s religion, Obama’s cabinet, Obama’s associates, among others.

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Although the financial crisis is winding down, the prospects for growth in the global economy are unlikely to pick up. This is, in part, inevitable. But it is also the result of poor coordination between governments as the world economy rebalances.

Prior to the crisis, American consumers, on average, either saved nothing or accumulated debt. That has now changed. With household wealth seriously damaged by the housing crash and other asset-price declines, pensions and retirement provisions are in disarray. Because asset prices will not reach pre-crisis levels anytime soon (that is, without inflating another bubble and risking renewed instability), household saving in the United States has risen to about 5% of disposable income, and probably will rise further.

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