If the latest development in Somalia gives you the feeling of being trapped in the Twilight Zone — somewhere between relative security and renewed bloodshed — you are not alone. Due to the array of competing internal and external interest groups and the federal government’s lack …
There is an old cliche about three similar events making a trend. Well, it appears we have a trend in Zimbabwe, where, not coincidentally, there is supposed to be an election this year.
In recent weeks a young activist, Solomon Madzore, found himself in jail for likening President Robert Mugabe to
On Saturday, March 9, 2013, Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s richest man and son of the country’s founding president won the presidential election of Kenya and prepared to take the highest office in the nation. However, amid the success of achieving such a high rank ucertainty loomed. This is because Kenyatta …
A few days before the “Somalia Conference 2013” held in London on May 7, a foreign journalist friend of mine sent me an e-mail asking what my thoughts were regarding the upcoming conference hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron. I replied: “My heart’s belief …
[Image from 99 FM]
The current issue of Foreign Affairs has an article, “Africa’s Economic Boom: Why the Pessimists and the Optimists are Both Right,” by Shantayanan Devarajan and Wolfgang Fengler. The subtitle might seem squishy, an attempt at split-the-difference equanimity so popular among the scolding centrists and graduate …
Masai Ujiri took an unconventional route to the pinnacle of National Basketball Association (NBA) team management. Now he is watching his Denver Nuggets’, a team he built in just three seasons as general manager, attempt to make a run at an NBA championship.
Ujiri grew up in the central northern region of Nigeria, in …
The U.N. Security Council is currently debating a draft resolution on whether or not to extend the peacekeeping mission in the Western Sahara (MINURSO) ahead of the April 30, 2013 deadline. For more than 20 years, the U.N. Security Council has debated, then renewed the mandate of …
A few weeks back I contributed to an Atlantic Community theme week on Security Issues in the Sahel. The result was Atlantic Memo #43, Security in the Sahel: Regional Initiatives in Pursuit of Long-Term Stability (pdf, web). The memo has already received …
In March, the United Nations Security Council came to a uaminous and monumental decision by approving an intervention brigade through Resolution 2098, which permits the use of offensive tactics against the M23 rebels and other militia groups operating in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo …
It was a story that many people missed. United States president Barack Obama met with four African leaders in Washington in late March 2013: President Sall from Senegal, President Banda from Malawi, President Koroma from Sierra Leone, and Prime Minister Neves from Cape Verde.
A positive step in the right direction …
With its meager financial and human resources, the Federal Republic of Somalia (FRS) has been doing better than a satisfactory job. However, in recent months, it has been profoundly frustrated by various challenges. Chief among them is what I would refer to as the first side-effect …
[Mail & Guardian]
Nelson Mandela is once again in the hospital and as has been the case so often in the past, his lungs are the source of his health problems. Mandela is obviously such a symbolically resonant figure in the country’s history that it is nearly unimaginable that …
As the Atlantic Community examines “What can the US do to promote security in the Sahel?” the discussion must focus on the importance of U.S. partnerships in the region. Too often, meaningful and successful U.S. intervention to address conflicts and threats to security is erroneously envisioned as …
On Wednesday March 20, Seleka rebels in the Central African Republic (CAR) called off a truce negotiated at the beginning of 2013 and began an invasion of several towns on their way to the capital of Bangui. The rebels claimed that President François Bozizé failed …
by S.N. Sangmpam
One item that dominated American politics after President Obama’s re-election was the opposition by Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham to Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., as Obama’s presumptive nominee for Secretary of State. They opposed her on the ground that she …
