I am a PhD candidate at American University in Washington, DC. I am interested in state formation and governance in low income countries. My dissertation examines the influence of foreign aid on incumbent advantage in African presidential elections.“I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.”
—Barak Obama, in his Speech on Race
His speech was great, and I understand that US Presidents and candidates always have to pretend that the US is #1. Still, in the interest of setting the record straight, let us remember that Obama’s story would have been possible in Canada, but no one would have cared because here stories like Obama’s are much more common.
