Just in case you were wondering: The chances of a breakthrough deal in Zimbabwe are still highly unlikely. The only hope, it would seem, would be for enough SADC leaders to have come to the conclusion that enough is enough and thus to shift that body's stance toward one of applying real pressure on Robert […]
I have to admit, at first I assumed that this IRIN report was simply quoting someone making up an absurd sounding number to make a point about inflation in Zimbabwe. But it turns out that while the last official figure was 231-million percent, the real figures are much higher: In the absence of credible official […]
Two events, one just passed, one pending, reveals the depths of schisms in Somalia. The first of these is the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from Somali territory. Normally outside troops only exacerbate conflicts in Africa, and Ethiopia's presence has been a mixed blessing to say the least. Nonetheless, the departure of the Ethiopian military has […]
South Africa will host the heads of state of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) members next week to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis in hopes of finding a way to get talks started again. As a result Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change has announced that it will not meet with Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF before […]
At The Atlantic online Jennie Rothenberg Griz has an interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu largely about Barack Obama, the United States, and the world that is well worth reading.
I want to take just a minute to promote my friend Mark Nyandoro's new book on Zimbabwe. Mark is a Zimbabwean currently living in South Africa where he is an academic on a fellowship at the University of the North West. Development and Differentiation: The Case of TILDOR/ARDA Irrigation Activities in Sanyata (Zimbabwe), 1939-2000 is […]
Last week I highlighted (and blogrolled) Global Post, a new website devoted to foreign affairs. Mark Glaser of PBS's MediaShift has an interview with Phil Balboni, the founder of Global Post who also founded the New England Cable News channel.
Bob Herbert's recent column on Zimbabwe in The New York Times brings little new to the table in terms of either evidence or argument but it is always good to have Zimbabwe's troubles given such high-profile attention in the United States. Whether such advocacy will translate to action is another question, but there is merit […]
Another member of the younger generation has generated more heat than light through controversial comments. Young Communist League secretary Buti Manamela published an article last week in the South African Communist Party’'s online journal Umsebenzi in which he teed off on Thabo Mbeki. The YCL, the SACP's functional equivalent of the ANC Youth League, effectively […]
The corruption charges hanging over his head complicate Jacob Zuma's quest for the presidency of South Africa. But assuming he does take what he sees as his rightful place in that office, his legal fight might, according to two observers, be the least of his problems. Their argument is hyperbolic, naturally, but South Africa faces […]
The latest developments in Zimbabwe fall into the grimly familiar narrative. There are signs of hope that there will finally be a breakthrough — in this case Thabo Mbeki, who still represents the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Zim talks, and South African President Kgalema Motlanthe touch down in Zimbabwe in hopes of kick-starting talks. […]
in an article for World Defense Review (via the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies) J. Peter Pham wonders whether Ghana's elections represent new hopes for Africa. Pham is ordinarily an Afropessimist, so his cautious optimism over the Ghana situation is noteworthy.
South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, one of the country's most widely respected public figures, has made clear that the global financial crisis has hit Africa hard and warns that it will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future. How South Africa might fare will likely become clearer on February 11, when Manuel […]
Last week dissident rebels declared an end to conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Despite optimism from many quarters, few believed the declaration, and rightfully so, as today Rwandan troops crossed into the DRC in order to disarm Hutu rebels.
Some early, perhaps scattered, thoughts:Throughout today's monumental, historic, inspiring, and emotional events, my thoughts have continued to wander back to two individuals other, of course, than Barack Obama. I have written thousands of words about both and probably exhausted nearly as many hours thinking about them. One is Congressman John Lewis. The other, bizarrely, perhaps, […]