Last Monday, in a ceremony at Bangui airport, about 1,800 additional peacekeepers and police joined a mission under U.N. control in the battle-torn Central African Republic CAR), along with the previous contingent of 4,800 African troops and 1,000 international police. The new reinforcements have come from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Morocco and Bangladesh, joining others […]
Is the crisis in the Central African Republic a “clash of civilizations”? A recent report entitled “Behind the Headlines: Drivers of Violence in the Central African Republic” from Enough, a Washington-based project of the Center for American Progress whose goal is to end genocide and crimes against humanity, is particularly revealing. Comments by the author […]
As the fighting continues in the Central African Republic, many of those following the crisis are portraying it as primarily a clash between the country’s Muslim minority and Christian militiamen, which to date has resulted in the deaths of over 2,000 people since December and the displacement of nearly a quarter of the country’s population […]
This is something rare. Knowledge of a rapidly deteriorating situation in Africa and a somewhat timely, actual action by those in the world with the power to intervene. The situation is in the Central African Republic. And that intervening is the first step to stabilizing the slaughter and – hopefully – stopping another genocide from […]
Where do European interests lay? What are Europeans’ priorities? How can Europeans influence and shape their environments? In a recent speech, HR Ashton declared that the CSDP faces several challenges; one being that “there is no agreed long-term vision on the future of CSDP.” These questions are fundamental in order to discuss the future of the […]
On December 19 and 20, 2013, the European Council will be discussing the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP), simply known as European defense. In order to cover such event a multi-part analysis will be adopted comporting several dimensions: context; the meeting; reflections on the aftermath of the Council meeting. All scholars and experts on […]
In 1986, after years of terror under the reign of Idi Amin and a resistance that yielded two successful military coups, Yoweri Museveni emerged as the unchallenged leader of Uganda, as his National Resistance Army seized Kampala and installed Museveni as president. That same year, another rebel group took up resistance against the newly formulated […]
The people of the Central African Republic (CAR) may be left to fend for themselves. Despite the increasingly dire humanitarian crisis emerging in the country, conflict in other countries may overshadow the situation so much that the country will be left to its fate. Scores of people were killed on September 9 amidst new clashes […]
On Wednesday March 20, Seleka rebels in the Central African Republic (CAR) called off a truce negotiated at the beginning of 2013 and began an invasion of several towns on their way to the capital of Bangui. The rebels claimed that President François Bozizé failed to live up to the original agreement by expelling nearly 2,000 […]
“We must start from the simple premise that Africa’s future is up to Africans.” This simple sentence came from a speech given by U.S. President Barack Obama in Ghana in 2009. Never has this premise rung more true than right now. As Africa faces imminent threats in several regional situations, the trend seems to be […]
Yesterday in The Hague, the International Criminal Court (ICC) acquitted former Congolese Warlord Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui of all charges, including crimes against humanity and war crimes, in connection with the massacre that occurred in 2003, in the town of Bogoro. Ngudjolo was on trial for a host of crimes including rape, pillaging, murder, forced enslavement and […]
A U.N. report leaked last month to Reuters indicated that both Uganda and Rwanda were supporting M23 rebels in the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The confidential report stated that while Rwanda’s Defense Minister, James Kabarebe, was actually commanding the rebel group, Uganda was also guilty of supplying arms and soldiers, […]
The legal standing of indigenous people improved earlier this week when Nicaragua ratified the only binding international law for tribal people, the International Labour Organization Convention 169. While ILO Convention 169 covers many of the same provisions as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, unlike the UN Declaration it is legally binding […]