I recently returned from a few days in Oxford, and as a consequence some stories have piled up that I otherwise might have given greater attention to but that at least warrant links:
The Nigerian government is pretty serious about cracking down on the militants in the Niger Delta. Expect a response. This is not to say that the government should not work hard to address the militant opposition. But its methods will inevitably draw a response from folks for whom subtlety is not exactly a forte.
Texas in Africa believes that President Barack Obama missed out on an opportunity by scheduling his first sub-Saharan African trip to Ghana rather than to a place like Kenya, with which he not only has some connections, but that also would reveal a willingness to step into actual trouble spots that American leaders usually avoid. My view is that a tirp like this requires myriad considerations, and I will not get too exercised about Ghana versus Kenya or South Africa or the DRC. I am most concerned with him formulating an Africa policy that addresses the most important issues. Of course I hope he uses Africa as more than a backdrop for photo-ops. And I trust that he will, largely because I am an optimist rather than because American history has given me any real evidence for believing this.
At Politicsweb Stanley Uys and Paul Trewhela analyze South African President Jacob Zuma’s new cabinet. They conclude that Zuma’s economic policies are about to turn leftward, toward policies more conciliatory to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and South African Communist Party (SACP) than those of his successor Thabo Mbeki. What such a shift means is anybody’s guess.
Finally, IRIN sees a “general defrosting” of relations between Zimbabwe’s new unity government and various western states, actors, aid agencies, and the like. The metaphor IRIN uses is one comparing the current phase to a refrigerator rather than a freezer, however, so the temperatures are still pretty cold.