Mali – Ian Birrell

Singing songs in harmony

Published by The i paper (15th July, 2019) Fifteen years ago I travelled to the world’s most astonishing music festival, held in a Tuareg village 55 miles from the fabled […]

Africa / Mali / United States / World

As our narrative on Africa shrinks, the continent rises

Published by The i paper (15th January, 2018) For a brief moment Donald Trump sounded presidential on Friday as he signed a proclamation to mark the public holiday […]

Europe / Politics / Russia / Syria / Ukraine / World

Putin, tangled foreign policy and a flawed case for war

Published by The Independent (23rd November, 2015) France is not the only part of Europe under a state of emergency. All four power lines supplying electricity to two […]

Africa / Europe / France / Mali

Why Mali was attacked

Published by CapX (20th November, 2015) & The Independent (21st November, 2015) So here we go again. First the tragic slaughter of innocents in Paris, followed by that […]

Immigration / Policy

Families that need £18,600 to spend Christmas together

Published in The Independent (December 19th, 2013) Like any father, Ethan James Feltham was looking forward to Christmas with his wife and their new son. But instead he […]

Africa / Arts / Mali / Music

Kings of the desert

Published in The Independent (December 6th, 2013) Under the blistering midday sun, two young musicians shook hands. ‘Would you like to rap on a track I’ve done?’ asked […]

Africa / Ethiopia / Technology

Support journalists, not countries that jail them

Published in The Guardian (August 5th, 2013) ‘I am jailed, with around 200 other inmates, in a wide hall that looks like a warehouse. For all of us, […]

Africa / Aid / Drugs / Mali / Policy

Victims of the war on drugs

Published in The Guardian (July 27th, 2013) In Swindon a young man lies in hospital critically ill after taking a green pill stamped with a dollar sign. Last […]

Crime / Drugs / Policy / Politics

Legalising drugs would be the perfect Tory policy

Published in The Guardian (February 19th, 2013) A few weeks ago I had a coffee with one of the most admired Tory thinkers. A radical libertarian, he spent […]

Afghanistan / Africa / Aid / Mali / Politics / World

Save lives Mr Cameron, but don’t imagine you need to save Africa

Published in The Independent (February 2nd, 2013) This week, the Prime Minister went to Africa.Struggling to achieve anything at home thanks to the shaky state of her coalition, […]

Africa / Arts / Mali / Music

Music is vital to political struggle across Africa – not just in Mali

Published in The Observer (27th January, 2013) At dinner last month after a concert by the Congolese rapper Baloji, I found myself sitting next to his drummer, Saidou […]

Africa / Europe / France / Mali

How the West misread Mali

Published in The Guardian (January 25th, 2013) For 10 months the collapse was largely ignored by the west. A country seen as a model democracy imploded, with an army […]