Ernest Harsch is an academic and freelance journalist who has written extensively on Africa since the 1970s. He is a research scholar affiliated with Columbia University's Institute of African Studies and previously served as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the university's School of International and Public Affairs. He is a regular contributor on Burkina Faso to the Economist Intelligence Unit, and his writing has featured in publications ranging from Le Monde diplomatique to Africa Today. His previous books include Thomas Sankara: An African Revolutionary (2014).