Thoughts on Kenya

I don't know a lot about the place. I've never been there, and I've never been to Africa, and that continent has never figured prominently on my radar.

That being said, the current conflict appears to be driven by tribal rivalries, which in turn are driven by arbitrary colonial boundaries.

While I do not think that the US should be in the position of drawing boundaries in, or creating countries in, Africa (preventing Genocide is a moral imperative, despite the cowardice of GHW Bush, Bill Clinton, GW Bush, and Condoleeza Rice on this).

However, I do not think that the US should support the policy of the African Union that the colonial boundaries are sacrosanct.

Countries and boundaries have been fluid throughout history, and much of the strife in Africa comes from the insistence that barely viable nation states are forced to muddle on.

Kenya is a tribal conflict, exacerbated by corruption, but the corruption is largely driven by tribalism.

Simply put, when the primary consideration is tribal, clean effective government is at best an afterthought, because your guys have to beat their guys, but if the society is largely homogeneous, ethnic baiting becomes far less effective.