In the debate over whether or not the World Cup was, on the whole, good for South Africa, it appears that those arguing in the affirmative have a little more evidence for their case. because when it comes to infrastructural development it appears that the government …
It’s been nearly a week and I still have not quite absorbed Zambia’s epic shootout victory over Côte d’Ivoire in the African Cup of Nations final in Libreville last Sunday.
First there is the way that Zambia won, which is to say, the game itself. Perhaps for many people …
I recently spoke with Stanford University professor and founding co-editor of the renowned Journal of Democracy Larry Diamond about U.S. democracy promotion. Mr. Diamond authored this year’s Great Decisions article, Promoting Democracy, in which he analyses the evolving significance and use of an American foreign …
“It turns out societal fault lines, interpersonal rivalries, and long suppressed power centers do not move at Internet speeds,” Sarwar Kashmeri observes in a new article in the Huffington Post commemorating the first anniversary of Egypt’s uprisings. Americans and local revolutionaries must be patient about the revolution’s transition to governance …
There are two kinds of people currently following the Africa Cup of Nations: Those who are stunned by Zambia’s advance to the finals of Africa’s biennial championship and liars. Once the semifinals were set there were precious few observers (outside of certain wildly optimistic circles in …
At a time when all of the continent’s and indeed the world’s sporting attentions should be focused on the African Cup of Nations being played in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon instead they have to look away toward Egypt where unimaginable tragedy has struck. Scores …
Here are a few stories that have caught my eye of late, with brief commentary as apt:
In an interesting (but probably passing) change of direction, China is putting pressure on Sudan “to seek urgently the release of 29 Chinese workers held by rebels in the border state of …
Last week as I was scanning the paper, I came across the tragic news coming out of Ethiopia, a country I deeply indebted to. In the Afar region, gunmen have killed five foreign tourists for unknown reasons. The Ethiopian government’s quick and inaccurate placement of blame is cause for concern.
It …
As policymakers, international affairs experts and enthusiasts, we talk a lot here about Africa. But now, those on the African continent are increasingly using tools to make themselves part of the #conversation.
This week, a first-of-its-kind study, “How Africa Tweets” was published by Portland …
The Economist had a piece on South Africa in the latest issue that unintentionally contradicted itself. I usually try not to let others do my work for me, but these two paragraphs warrant regurgitating in full:
The ANC has marked up some notable achievements. It …
Jonathan Wilson might be the greatest football writer working today. If nothing else, he’s in the conversation. So it was with great interest that I read his recent lengthy post for the Guardian Sports Blog on the state of football in Africa. The title of the post poses …
Call it the O-effect. Passing with flying colors, seventy-two South African girls from disadvantaged backgrounds graduated from the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (the academy’s first graduates) in South Africa this past Saturday. True to the old adage that to educate a woman is to educate a nation, …
If reports coming out of South Sudan are true the United Nations may be facing its biggest embarrassment since its missteps in the Democratic of Congo. The New York Times reports that UN Peacekeepers stood by idly while Nuer tribesman massacred fleeing …
The scenes coming out of Jonglei state of South Sudan are troubling. According to United Nations sources, more than 3,000 people have died and more than 60,000 have fled their home in the two week long ethnic clashes between Murle and Nuer tribes. The scope and …
When I look back to the ended year, I think of so many unexpected turn of events, civilizations ruined, great people we lost as well as so many remarkable achievements in global peace, freedom, and justice movements. Some of these developments are easy to forget and some are cherished already. …
