A refreshing counterpoint to the endless doomsaying about African countries.

Not that the many people with case studies about the enormous problems are wrong, but that's not the totality of the issue. Much like the idea that the world is much more violent now than during the Cold War (Kaplan's The Coming Anarchy book led the way on this one), when in fact it is quite the opposite.

I blame general historical illiteracy as well as the advent of 24-hour cable news.