Reporters Without Borders voiced concern today for the safety of Ethiopia’s journalists after a long-time government critic was arrested along with four opposition party members on 15 September in Addis Ababa, becoming the latest in a series of local and foreign reporters to be held on “terrorism” charges. Ethiopia’s 2009 “anti-terrorist” law has today become […]
A joint undercover investigation by BBC Newsnight and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has uncovered evidence that the Ethiopian government is using billions of dollars of development aid as a tool for political oppression. Posing as tourists the team of journalists travelled to the southern region of Ethiopia.There they found villages where whole communities are […]
In Somalia famine spreads and its death toll rises. It is increasingly clear that while the famine’s proximate cause may be drought, in reality like so many famines this one is predominantly a political creation that emanates from al Shabaab, the al Qaeda-affiliated organization that is actively preventing food aid and other materiel to reach […]
Lots of stories have been cavorting around my head, with commentary as I see fit: The disaster in the Horn of Africa represents what the Mail & Guardian calls “a crisis in slow motion.” The perfect storm of famine and the political chaos in Somalia has led to a humanitarian nightmare. The west (ie the […]
Quoted directly from John Campbell at his Council on Foreign Relations’ Africa in Transition blog: The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has released ten case studies on “Assessing Risks to Stability in Sub-Saharan Africa.” The reports cover Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan and Uganda. The papers, commissioned by the U.S. […]
Many are familiar with the origin of Somalia’s protracted conflict in the fall of Said Barre’s regime in 1991 and the resulting competition for political control among warring clans. Yet the conditions of warfare in Somalia have evolved dramatically since that time as the impact of the conflict upon the local geography, the role of […]
The Horn of Africa is one of the most complex and conflicted regions of the world. Each of the countries of the Horn—Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Sudan—suffers from protracted political strife, arising from local and national grievance, identity politics and regional inter-state rivalries. The ongoing crisis in Darfur, the rise of the Union of […]
It was announced today that between 9 and 11 Kenyan’s who have conducted attacks in Kenya have had training within Somalia, a disquieting thought as Harakat al-Shabaab has announced the possibility of more focussed attacks on Kenyan soil in the near future. In the meanwhile, Mustapha Ali, advisor to the UN has warned that the spillover […]
Over the past few weeks, we witnessed history in the making in North Africa and the Middle East. The people’s power spreading like a highly contagious flu, forcing out undemocratic regimes across North Africa and the Middle East. It is interesting to see that coordinated efforts were underway in so many nations to call out […]
Abeje Chumo I wrote this piece about South Sudan after reading about the massacre of 200 civilians last week by the rebel group led by George Athor. More than 160 of the dead were civilians, such as children, the elderly, refugees and several priests. Such attacks on civilians are sign of the challenges the South […]
Welcome to the Foreignpolicyblogs.com blog, the latest addition to the Foreign Policy Blogs network.