For the paper...A good ending I am thinking about--in terms of the narrative, is to speak some about the Robert Kaplan aticle on "the coming anarchy" (i will have already mentioned this to some extent, but will return to make these final points.) his argument is, roughly, that by looking at the problems in Africa and the way that they are handled, we can see a good example of the way that the world will look in the coming century. I will have already discussed the metaphor of riding in the limo (and the new pattern of its being bulletproofed to protect elites from threats of terror) and his recommendation that we watch nigeria to see what happens there...I will then bring up the recent ruling by the Benue assembly that denied the request of the Akume family for a convoy of bulletproof vehicles after they were attacked by a group of armed rebels. The assembly denied their request, saying: "The Benue State House of Assembly Speaker, Mr Mzenda Iho and the House unanimously agreed that the rising insecurity in the country must be fought through means that could benefit every Nigerian, not a select group. [. . . .] He said that the frequent attacks on top political offices was a manifestation that "the common man on the street has nowhere to run to", and asked the House to pass the resolution of the House that President Olusegun Obasanjo should take measures to protect all Nigerians, saying, "we can't fold our arms and watch sundry criminals place the nation under siege.""

This appeared on the african news service march 7, 2004.

Of course, in following the story further, I find that Akume ended up buying himself one of the bulletproof cars anyway--and the assembly dispassionately approved the purchase after the fact. this makes the scenario a buit more ambiguous, but still and interesting anecdote to note in the context. In this case, Nigeria might be a good example for us in that people were initially concerned that the general lawlessness would not be addressed by the government. and instead the people should be lifted to safety as well.