In the eyes of Western journalists, the fortunes of Africa always seem to vacillate between gloom and doom and rebirth and takeoff, with the pessimistic view weighing much heavier in the balance. As a reporter, I have always resisted giving into the temptation to frame Africa in either of these ways. After all, it is the world’s second-largest continent, one of great complexity, and that includes plenty of scope for divergent fates. A recent development involving South Africa’s relationship to