As the deadly Ebola virus rips across West Africa causing death and civil unrest (i.e., due to the fear mongering that accompanies an epidemic) the fate of region remains at an impasse.
As the deadly Ebola virus rips across West Africa causing death and civil unrest (i.e., due to the fear mongering that accompanies an epidemic) the fate of region remains at an impasse.
Algeria just re-elected its longest-serving president for a fourth term, in what many describe as a fraught campaign punctuated by violence and citizen apathy. While the April 17 vote yielded no surprise, it unleashed a pertinent debate about the future of Algeria’s seemingly impermeable regime. In an awkwardly short ceremony, Abdelaziz Bouteflika was sworn in on […]
Forces representing France and the government of Mali seem to have mostly regained control of the West African nation’s northern region following last month’s offensive, as I covered here. But the fallout from their pushback against rebellious elements continues. I found two developments from a recent BBC update of particular interest. One concerns the status of […]
With the French military intervention in Mali shifting to a more sustained action, the reality of the long, hard slog in the Mali region has triggered inevitable questions by diplomats, policy planners and many others as to what defines success – and what comes next? Most mouthed answer: “Somalia.” That’s correct. The place […]
Whether it is lack of political will or capacity, the Nigerian government has failed to address the threat that the Islamist insurgency Boko Haram poses to its country’s security. The past week has been a particularly bloody one for Nigeria. Simultaneous attacks against This Day newspaper offices in Abuja and Kaduna killed nearly a dozen […]