Worth reading

• Berkeley economist Edward Miguel ponders Africa's improved record of economic growth in the new millennium and offers a wide-ranging look at whether the continent is on the road to sustained development, touching on the role of democratic reforms, foreign aid, and Chinese investment, as well as the threats from continuing conflict and climate change. Definitely worth a look if you want a readable overview of the state of Africa's development. There is certainly room for disagreement, of course, and several Africa scholars offer brief responses, among them Harvard's Robert Bates, Stanford's Jeremy Weinstein, the Hewlett Foundation's Smita Singh, and Brown's David Weil. (Boston Review)

• Richard Cornwell is skeptical about the the importance of the Obama-Clinton-McCain joint statement on Darfur. (Institute for Security Studies)
  

• Celia Dugger on the growing political crackdown in Zimbabwe. (NY Times)

• Dan Bilefsky on Macedonia's violent elections. (NY Times)
  

• Christopher Hayes profiles Stanford law professor and newly-minted electoral reform advocate Lawrence Lessig. (The Nation)
  

• Esther Kaplan on tensions within the U.S. labor movement. (The Nation)

• Kenyans are the latest to hold protests over food prices (Reuters).
  

• Sudan is reportedly closing the offices of Eritrean opposition groups based in Khartoum. Sign of warming relations between Khartoum and Asmara? (Reuters)