Africom is now up and running. I still am ambivalent about the US African Command in theory and especially in practice. The idea seems ok — it gives America a presence on a continent it has so long overlooked, ignored, or mismanaged. And maybe there is the chance that the US presence will augment AU […]
Two articles in The Mail & Guardian reveal a common trait among nation states and other political entities: A fundamental aversion to outside interference. During the American Civil Rights Movement white Southerners oftentimes claimed that their states were beset with outside agitators, alien forces who were there to cause trouble and then would leave without having to […]
Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main opposition party to Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF, has broken his rceent silence to explain why the increasingly splintered Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) acquiesced to the recent Constitutional changes that Thabo Mbeki helped broker. Speaking in Masvingo at the party's eighth anniversary celebrations, Tsangirai argued that “The objective of talking to […]
The Springboks mashed the USA Eagles 64-15 in each team's final first round matchup at the Rugby World Cup in France. South Africa finished atop Pool A and will face unfamiliar foe Fiji in theis first knockout round fixture next weekend. The Americans played scrappy, defiant rugby, but were simply outclassed by a South African team that looks […]
The normally cantankerous Paul Theroux has a glowing review of Tim Jeal's new biography of Henry Morton Stanley in this week's New York Times Sunday Book Review. Here is the concluding paragraph: There have been many biographies of Stanley, but Jeal's is the most felicitous, the best informed, the most complete and readable and exhaustive, […]
Rwanda has joined much of the international community in a call for the end of the death penalty. It's a pretty compelling argument, all in all: If the Rwandan government can end capital punishment with countless perpetrators of genocide still to be punished, there are not a lot of countries in the world with a […]
There is a new story about political intrigue, firings, scandal, corruption, and crime reverberating through South Africa with the issue of an arrest warrant and suspension of National Police Commissioner (and head of Interpol) Jackie Selebi. This might represent Thabo Mbeki's stiffest political challenge yet, which is in itself saying something. The Mail & Guardian editorializes hopefully on the […]
Mexican writer Fernando del Paso has been awarded the Juan Rulfo literary prize, a major honor in Spanish literature. Born in Mexico City in 1935, Del Paso is the author of Palinuro of Mexico and Noticias del Imperio, among other works. Though best known for his four novels, he has also had success as a poet, […]
Well, earlier in the week I predicted it, not because I am especially perspicacious, but because it was so predictable: “Prepare for rhetorical brickbats to come from Zim's wily tyrant.” And brickbats we have gotten. In his Wednesday address before the United Nations, Mugabe had a field day. His material tends not to vary all […]
Mo Ibrahim, who boldly and controversially is offering a prize to reward good governance in Africa, has released his Ibrahim Index, with the help of Africa specialist Robert Rotberg, ranking African nations based on a host of criteria, including safety and security; rule of law, transparency, and corruption; participation and human rights; sustainable economic opportunity; […]
The UN recently called for a rare summit on Africa and predictably, promises were made, agendas were set, ideas proposed. While it is good to see Africa on the global agenda in such a visible way, many Africans are rightly skeptical: “Africa's agenda will increasingly be defined by the African Union,” said AU chairman Alpha […]
This month, several former leaders of states that support Central Asia's economic and political liberalization have weighed in on issues of globalization and economic integration. In particular, former President of Turkey Mr. Demirel discussed the historic and continuing participation of Turkey in Central Asia's economic development, noting that Turkey continues to build economic ties: Turkish […]
Famed Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas has been commissioned by Mexico City officials to design what would be Latin America's tallest skyscraper at 984 feet. As the New York Times noted recently, however, the proposed “Bicentennial Tower” is causing controversy among its future neighbors and city activists who are taking legal action. If built, the 70-story tower overlooking the city's Chapultepec […]
Gordon Brown remains steadfast in his refusal to attend any Europe-Africa summit in which Robert Mugabe is allowed to participate. At least a few African leaders are rallying around Mugabe, who is on his way to New York where he will attend the meeting of the General Assembly. Prepare for rhetorical brickbats to come from […]
It looks as if COSATU has begun to forge its independent path in what is certain to be a rollicking succession battle within the ANC. I have long argued that the ANC will eventually find its greatest challenges from within, and that a viable opposition is most likely to emerge from a division within the […]