I agree with the old adage that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Despite self-congratulatory speeches and political sloganeering, 2010 has not been the best year for Southern Africa in terms of problem solving, innovation, and policy entrepreneurship. Take for example (as I alluded in one of my previous blog entries): […]
Overview 2010 was a year of both change and continuity in African affairs. The changes were clear: Kenyans approved a new Constitution, though the implementation will take time. South Africa successfully hosted the football World Cup, confounding the naysayers and taking another huge step forward in the process of nation building. There were elections across […]
It’s been a month since the results of the contested November 28th presidential election were announced in Cote D’Ivoire, where things have taken a turn for the worse over the end-of-year holidays. As tensions and violence escalate – at least 170 people have been killed so far in post-election violence according to the UN — […]
The crisis in Cote d’Ivoire continues to accelerate. Laurent Gbagbo has dug in his heels, insisting he is the rightful president despite all indications being that the election results clearly favored his opponent Alassane Ouattara. Well more than 10,000 Ivorians have fled the country. As a result the presidents of three nearby countries — Benin, […]
Greetings and welcome to the African Union blog. This blog is being launched in coordination with the publication of the latest of FPA’s Headline Series, backgrounders produced for more than half a century. “The Quest for African Unity: 50 Years of Independence and Interdependence,” offers a short history of Pan-Africanism and the Organization of African […]
I want to wish all of my readers a happy holiday, Merry Christmas, and good tidings for the season. I also want to thank you for your readership, comments, and emails. I plan to post regularly next week, including the annual Year in Review post.
In an ideal world politicians who foment political violence in their countries should be brought to justice as swiftly as is feasible. But that last word, “feasible,” is a bit of a problem, at least in the real-life example of Kenya. The violence that wracked the country after the December 2007 elections left in its […]
Things in Cote d’Ivoire continue to get worse. Laurent Gbagbo is digging in and post-election violence has claimed dozens of lives with the toll continuing to climb. There are fears of another civil war breaking out in the country as sanctions appear to be accomplishing nothing. This one will not be resolved before the New […]
ISN Insights has published my latest piece, “A Tale of Two Elections,” which looks at the crisis averted in Guinea and the one broiling in Ivory Coast.
There is no doubt in my mind that the United States Embassy cables released by WikiLeaks are very embarrassing for the US, and could have serious consequences for diplomacy and international relations. But from an African perspective, the disclosure of diplomatic cables refocuses attention, and reinvigorates debate, on some of the critical issues affecting the […]
Over at the Council on Foreign Relations John Campbell has a new blog, Africa in Transition, that you should be reading (I have added it to the blogroll as well). Campbell is the Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for African Studies at CFR, is a former ambassador to Nigeria, and served as political counselor at the […]
In a relatively short period of time since Ghana discovered oil off its coast the country has developed the capacity to drill and extract that oil, a process that reached fruition on Wednesday. Now the question is: Can Ghana avoid the so-called “oil curse” that has enveloped too many West African countries when black gold […]
The election stalemate in the Ivory Coast continues with no clear end in sight. The European Union is planning sanctions to provide pressure on Laurent Gbagbo to yield to Alassane Ouattara, the nearly universally agreed upon winner of last month’s vote. If sanctions are a clear sign that the outside world has no idea what […]
The leaked US embassy cables not only show that the US is concerned about the love affair between African governments and China, but also uncovered secret dealings in smoke-filled rooms between African governments and Beijing. Such back-door-dealings between Namibia and China is one of the latest diplomatic cables to be made public by Wikileaks. If […]
The principles behind affirmative action are pretty basic: Certain people have been kept from enjoying the bounties of society and as a result we need to have policies to provide redress for those inequities. But of course in order to provide that redress certain people are going to feel as if they are going to […]