The legacy of King Leopold very much lives on in the Congo. Here is a country which since colonial times probably experienced the worst bloodshed of any territory in Africa.

Congolese friends have often said to me that we wouldn't be in such dire straits if we weren't so rich.

Work is hard. Distractions are plentiful. And time is short.

For the better part of two centuries, outsiders have been offering explanations that range from racist to learned-sounding - the supposed inferiority of blacks, the heritage of slavery, overpopulation - for why Haiti remains the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Newt Gingrich seldom misses a chance to note that he is a historian.

I think that, in almost all human beings, there is buried a profound tribal instinct that makes us very susceptible to being aroused to patriotic fervour.