This event took place on the 7th of June 2012.
The Swedish Institute of International Affairs, UI, organized a discussion on the developments in Africa with Dutch historian Roel Van der Veen and Swedish journalist Erika Bjerström.
In the West, the popular image of Africa is still that of the ?dark continent?, characterized by corruption, tribal anarchy, civil war, political instability, incompetent leadership, starvation and diseases such as AIDS. But there is also a brighter picture, of a continent with rapid economic growth and hope for the future.
Roel van der Veen is Professor of International Relations at the University of Amsterdam and Academic Advisor at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the author of What Went Wrong With Africa: A Contemporary History, a gloomy account of African development since World War II. van der Veen suggests that misrule, internal conflict, corruption, AIDS and poverty are primarily an autochthonous problem that would exist even if Africa had not experienced centuries of European domination.
Erika Bjerström is a correspondent with the Swedish public service television company, SVT, has been traveling around the African continent during one year to seek the miracle of Africa. Her search resulted in the documentary ?The New Africa? where she portrays another Africa full of hope and development.
The discussion was moderated by Victoria Veres, deputy Editor-in-chief of Internationella Studier.