This Home Page is designed mainly to serve two purposes: shameless self-promotion, and facilitating intellectual exchange. I sincerely hope it does both.

Segmenting myself into my professional life, and personal life, I promise to not burden you with pictures of my grandchildren, children or boat (Dayenu), but to stick to the stuff that might have brought you here.

Just a bit of background-- I am a hopeless liberal global humanist who still wants the world to work for (nearly) everyone..and who still believes that individuals can make a difference through the way they live. I teach political science, mainly international politics and comparative "non-western" politics, but I also try to stay grounded in the real world of problem solving through my research and consulting.

My interest in Africa is not only academic, it is also policy-oriented. I have a strong and abiding interest in Africa. In the past, I have really enjoyed getting down to where the ordinary people live and work. I have worked on organizational development, local organizations that deal with health, credit and agricultural issues, civil society and advocacy and most recently on citizen involvement in conflict resolution and peace-building. As a political scientist, I have been involved in the design and analysis of institutions for enhancing participation and democratic decision-making. For examples of my consulting work in Africa see “Consulting.” For recent examples of my academic work on Africa see “Academic Studies.” I am also very interested in democratization of formerly authoritarian regimes, particularly in Africa. For the past eight years much of my consulting and writing has been concerned with this issue, not only in terms of its domestic implications, but in terms of international implications as well.

In addition to my interest in Africa, I have developed a strong interest in Asia, and particularly in China. I spend much of 1999 in China, teaching and learning. I also had the experience of visiting and doing some work in Indonesia and Thailand and loved the experience.

For me my work is fundamentally about people, about the possibility that people in the Third World and particularly in Africa can live better lives and can have governments and opportunities for self-governance they truly deserve, and in the possibility that great powers like the U.S and China can deal with their differences more peacefully. How's that for value neutrality!!

When you return to my Home Page, you can check out my resume if the urge arises and you can look at some recent examples of my research and comment on it to me (but don't quote it in public places without checking with me, and particularly don't baldly rip it off... it is my intellectual property).You can also see what kind of work I have done as a consultant (see my consulting CV) and see a few examples of parts of studies which are public.

I am a careful field worker, and a quick study, and I welcome the opportunity to work in many places in the world where I can be of use. Thanks for visiting my Home Page.

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