Zimbabwe’s unity government has reached the hundred days mark. This is a landmark of sorts, I suppose, albeit a rather artificial one. We live in an age of instant punditry, but my best interpretation of the plight of Zimbabwe is to reserve judgment. Governments are not based on increments of a hundred days (I think […]
What Morgan Tsvangirai probably really means when he says that Robert Mugabe is “part of the solution” to Zimbabwe’s problems: Robert Mugabe is part of the solution inasmuch as his very presence represents the very real possibility that he could at any point decide to destabilize the country by calling on the so-called “war veterans” […]
Jacob Zuma has named his new cabinet, giving some insight into what sort of President Zuma might make, which comes as a welcome diversion from the cult of personality aspects that tend to predominate South African politics. Naturally, finger pointing seems to rule the day. Critics are wary of Zuma’s “New Blood” cabinet, which includes […]
Zimbabwe has received two recent votes of tentative coinfidence in recent days. One comes from Morgan Tsvangirai, who continues to insist that the country’s unity government is on the right path. Tsvangirai has continued to be a booster for the new dispensation and clearly recognizes that however uncomfortable and imperfect the alliance between himself and […]
One of the major buzzwords in South Africa in the post-Apartheid era is “transformation,” which refers to the massive adjustment required to move into a truly democratic world and to throw off not only the shackles of official apartheid, but also, and more vexingly, its legacy and deeply ingrained manifestations. Transformation from apartheid recognizes that […]
For those of you with wanderlust, this Sunday’s New York Times travel section has a feature on Malawi, which it calls “an Africa in microcosm,” a concept I reject inasmuch as it essentializes and thus reduces Africa, as if it is possible to cull Africa down to one tourist-friendly microcosm. There is already too much […]
Jacob Zuma is now President of South Africa. For all of the gnashing of teeth in recent months, for all of the resentments, petty and substantial, Zuma has ascended to the country’s highest office. And if his inaugural address provides any indication, he is aware of the responsibilities before him. Or at least he is […]
Tristan McConnell has an article at Global Post showing the ongoing adjustment of a survivor from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. Julienne Uwimana’s is a story about survival and overcoming the most unimaginable tragedies but also about how the overcoming is a lifelong process. She has devoted herself to helping others, especially to orphans, who have helped […]
The global economic meltdown is creating what an IRIN Report is calling “crisis upon crisis” whereby countries already dealing with difficult situations are having those situations multiplied. It should come as no surprise that the most vulnerable states might suffer the most during a worldwide downturn.
If you want a pretty good example of the resource curse at work, let this one roll around in your brain for a minute: Nigeria is suffering a potentially crippling fuel scarcity. That’s right: oil rich Nigeria, which has Africa’s largest population and theoretically (and so far just about only only theoretically) ought to be […]
The World Bank, via IRIN, has a report listing the ten African nations most vulnerable to rising sea levels. The list includes: Mozambique, Madagascar, Nigeria, Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Cote D’Ivoire, Gabon, South Africa, and Somalia.
The African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim) has granted Zimbabwe an additional $250 million line of credit to help the country with its on going economic restructuring and reconstruction. This would seem to be a sign that in some circles, at least, there is a modicum of faith that Zimbabwe has stepped back from the brink even […]
When dealing with a terrible post-conflict environment there are often few good choices as to how to deal with those who have committed human rights atrocities. In negotiation processes people are unlikely to put down arms without some hope for amnesty. Think of the negotiations that led to the end of Apartheid in South Africa. […]
At The Guardian Richard M. Kavuma has an article showing how Ugandan football is suffering even as the country’s fans continue to show their love for the game through their support not of the local clubs, but of the English Premiere League. Part of the explanation for the flagging fortunes at the local professional and […]
At the History News Network blog Cliopatria Aaron Bady has a useful post summarizing an ongoing debate at Making Sense of Darfur, the blog edited by respected Sudan expert Alex de Waal. The debate centers around Mahmoud Mamdani’s book Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror. I should be honest in saying […]