The kids are not alright. At least not at the University of South Africa (UNISA), where students, appropriating a phrase from the 1980s anti-apartheid struggle, are promising to make UNISA “ungovernable” in a campaign to drive out university vice-chancellor Barney Pityana. The students claim that Pityana is incompetent, unresponsive to the needs of students and […]
Tough stance ahead of climate change negotiations Spelling out its initial bargaining position for the upcoming climate change negotiations, China adopted a hard line. Most notably, Beijing called for developed countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels. Beyond that, China also required rich countries to help pay for […]
US Vice President Joe Biden is in Beirut today to meet with government leaders just two weeks before the Lebanese parliamentary elections. Biden will be meeting with the three heads of government: President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, and Speaker Nabbih Berri. His visit is expected to last for a few hours, just long […]
As usual, we are getting some fairly mixed messages on Zimbabwe. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai continues to put a positive spin on the situation for reasons that I have pointed out before (namely that he has few options, that he knows Robert Mugabe may not be a legitimate president but the facts on the ground […]
Stories that came across the desktop today: Africa’s longest serving leader, Gabon’s President Omar Bongo Ondimba, is in a Spanish hospital and is apparently in “a very bad condition” due to what some reports are calling intestinal cancer. Given that Ondimba has been a dynastic ruler in the oil-rich (for the few) but impoverished (for […]
At his blog, Matthew Yglesias makes a point in a post, “Geopolitics and Democracy,” that, while not explicitly about Africa, has quite clear ramifications for the way that we think about and describe the political context in African nation states. I am going to quote him in full because 1) the post is pretty salient […]
This might be a bit too insiderish, but here goes: At his blog Easily Distracted, Swarthmore College Africanist has a post exploring “What’s Distinctive About Africanist Historiography.” Burke is a thoughtful and serious thinker and his remarks are very much worth considering. I am, however, always wary of “distinctiveness” arguments, which strike me as one […]
With the White House in the midst of meetings with the Middle East’s leaders, some notable changes in posture occurred likely as a result of the discussions. Mere days following the first meeting between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli government dismantled a small settlement consisting of seven huts. The gesture […]
Rakhat Aliev, President Nazarbayev’s son-in-law, has been living in Vienna, Austria since 2007 after a public split with Nazarbayev. Ever since, he has been denigrating the Kazakh leadership. He has finally put it all in a book, published in German and Russian, called The Godfather-in-Law. It is available in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. The book […]
The votes from an election with massive turnout are still being counted in Malawi’s too close to call (but apparently getting closer to resolution) national elections. While there are already some disputes over the tallies, there is a distinct likelihood that women could find themselves with greater representation at the highest ranks of Malawi’s politics […]
In the below one question daily briefing by the US State Department, Spokesman Ian Kelly attempts to describe the ongoing process of the so-called civilian surge in Afghanistan. Though the ‘people surge’ is considered an integral part of the Obama administration’s Afghan strategy, many have wondered where exactly they were going to obtain the necessary […]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke candidly with Al-Jazeera following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House earlier this week. She restated the Obama Administration’s commitment to a two-state solution and clarified the U.S. stance on settlements, even declaring the need for an immediate end to ‘natural growth.’ Netanyahu repeatedly stated that settlements […]
Less than three weeks before the Lebanese parliamentary elections, Israel is stirring up trouble from the south. Israel has announced that it will be conducting large scale military training maneuvers the week before the Lebanese elections. Also, a network of Israeli spies has been slowly uncovered in Lebanon over the past few weeks. To date, […]
Alon Pinkas, a former advisor to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, discusses the three peace processes currently relevant to the the new Israeli administration in an interview with Middle East Progress. He evaluates the Israel-Palestine track, the Israel-Syria track, and proposals to secure peace between Israel and all the Arab countries. He concludes that an all-encompassing […]
Hopes about China recovery premature? The World Bank sees hopes about an economic recovery in China as “premature”, according to David Dollar, country director for China. The main reason for the World Bank’s doubts about China’s recovery is low private investment. While stimulus measures have helped boosting fixed-asset investment and stabilizing the Chinese economy, private […]