Tag Archives: Africa

White Paper: The History and Approach of African Martial Arts: A Comparative, Cultural, and Functional Survey

Posted on December 16, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary African martial arts represent one of the world’s oldest and most diverse bodies of combat knowledge. Rather than forming a single codified “martial arts tradition” in the modern East Asian sense, African systems developed organically across ecological zones, … Continue reading →

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White Paper: Omotic Languages in Comparative Perspective—Relationships within Afro-Asiatic and Niger-Congo Frameworks

Posted on September 23, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary The Omotic languages of southwestern Ethiopia occupy a controversial and fascinating place in African historical linguistics. Traditionally classified as the sixth branch of the Afro-Asiatic family (alongside Semitic, Cushitic, Berber, Chadic, and Egyptian), their membership has been disputed, … Continue reading →

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Rich For Independence

Posted on March 11, 2025 by nathanalbright

Today, as I write this, Greenland went to the polls in an atmosphere of intense tension between increasing American interest in the area, Denmark’s own intransigence despite its failure to develop the region, and Greenland’s own desire for more freedom. … Continue reading →

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Some Thoughts On Lome’s Airport

Posted on September 27, 2023 by nathanalbright

I can safely say that Gnassingbé Eyadéma International Airport, the international airport for Togo’s capital, Lome, is one of the most frustrating airports I have ever traveled through, and this is despite the fact that as a small airport that … Continue reading →

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Thoughts In A Nearly Empty Airport Gate

Posted on September 26, 2023 by nathanalbright

One of the advantages of sitting almost alone at a nearly empty airport gate when one has arrived early for one’s flight to sit and wait for the time when one can get one’s seat assignment is that it gives … Continue reading →

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Book Review: A Fistful Of Shells

Posted on September 4, 2023 by nathanalbright

A Fistful Of Shells: West Africa From The Rise Of The Slave Trade To The Age Of Revolution, by Toby Green Writing about West Africa during the period of the slave trade, especially when one wishes, as the author does, … Continue reading →

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On Security Dilemmas In West Africa

Posted on August 6, 2023 by nathanalbright

One of the truths that is often neglected when it comes to the cultivation of militaries is that generally speaking, militaries tend to be skilled in one of two areas: either being used as political pieces in internal conflicts, or … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Slavery And The Making Of America

Posted on February 26, 2021 by nathanalbright

Slavery And The Making Of America, by James Oliver Horton and Lois E. Horton In reading a book like this, one has to be aware of the fact that the authors almost always bring some sort of biased perspective into … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Djibouiti: Pawn Of The Horn Of Africa

Posted on January 29, 2021 by nathanalbright

Djibouti: Pawn Of The Horn Of Africa, by Robert Tholomier Djibouti, once known as French Somaliland (as opposed to British, Italian, and Ethiopian Somaliland), is a small nation with a strategic location opposite of the port of Aden near the … Continue reading →

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When A Continent Rides The Struggle Bus

Posted on January 25, 2021 by nathanalbright

While I was looking for books on another subject, I noticed that four different accounts of the proceedings of the House Committee on International Relations over the past two decades featured the word struggle in them. All four were connected … Continue reading →

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