Mr. Ngorr (or is it Hamjatta), Your "Ponzi theory" seems to elude me. As far as I can see, there is absolutely no scheming here. Wade and Jammeh are all very well informed of the issues at hand, and they are also very well aware of what is at stake: sub-regional peace and stability. It is common knowledge in international politics that a balance of power ( in the SeneGambian context-soft power...the ability to influence behaviour/political dialogues) is a fundamental factor to secure peace/stability. Nations in most situations have two options- either go to war and secure overhelming hegemonic power or go to the negotiating table. The balancing act through dialogue involves both sides presenting their mutually anti-thetical national interests, and during the dialectical process a synthesis that will sublate all other factional interests is reached. Only then do nations go into pacts amongst themselves with absolute confidence. Finally, Ngorr( the guru from Oxford, hehe) nations have only permanent interests and this axiom has been tested since the Peloponnesian War to contemporary world affairs. A nation's foreign policy is never subsumed to some fantastic moral/ethical crusade (a sure road to disaster and calamity). Peace/stability can only be achieved through a calculus of national interests and not through some "Ponzi Schemings" Waiting to hear from you soon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~