On November 20th, the M23 rebels entered Goma, the capital of the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — positioned on the border of Rwanda and the shores of Lake Kivu. By seizing the city with a population of one million people, the rebels struck their biggest blow since they mutinied […]
Fighting resumed today between the M23 rebels — now calling themselves the Congolese Revolutionary Army — and government troops just outside of Goma in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), ending a two-month ceasefire for the conflict that began in April of this year. While much of the attention […]
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, […]
Last week the Foreign Policy Association released its annual National Opinion Ballot Report regarding several topics within the realm of U.S. foreign policy. One subject that received much attention surrounded the United States’ role and responsibility when it came to promoting democracy globally. When the participants were asked if “The United States should actively promote democracy around […]
In an expert report released last week regarding the ongoing conflict in the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, neighboring countries Rwanda and Uganda were both fingered as supporting the M23 rebel group, including implications that top officials of the Rwandan government actually issue the commands to the organization. The two top […]
Today, I’d like to share a few updates on HIV/AIDS. Uganda has backslid against the epidemic, according to advocacy organizations in the country. A review published in the British Medical Journal finds that methadone therapy for injecting drug users more than halves the risk of HIV transmission. And we are about to face a new challenge: […]
This documentary is excellent. It documents the after effects of war on three young women who were abducted as children and forced to serve in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). That rebel Ugandan force, led by Joseph Kony, is notorious for kidnapping and forcing those captured to fight. For more than 20 years his group has abducted […]
by Nathan William Meyer Twenty-four trillion dollars. It is a number that beggars the imagination, almost 40% of the global economy, and it is buried in one of the world’s poorest and most violent countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo. Failed state, rape capital of the world, humanitarian catastrophe – the Congo personifies all […]
Ratko Mladic was arrested today in Lazarevo, Serbia ending a sixteen year long manhunt (as predicted in our Year In Review article). He was the Serbian military commander responsible for the Srebrenica massacre in which over 7,000 Muslims were murdered, and has been labeled Europe’s most wanted war criminal. The two most notorious fugitive war […]
Last week Libya became the subject of official investigation by the International Criminal Court, the sixth since the court’s inception in 2002. There are three ways in which an investigation can be initiated by the Office of The Prosecutor; referral of a situation by a state party of the Rome Statute, referral from the U.N. […]
This month was the biannual International Anti-Corruption Conference, which took place this year in Bangkok. The conference is an opportunity for a large portion of the world’s people who are thinking about corruption to get together, share ideas, learn what’s new, and of course schmooze (a bit). The theme of the conference this year was […]
When I was in Uganda last month I was fortunate to learn more about an interesting parliamentary internship program being carried out by the Center for International Development (CID) of the State University of New York (full disclosure: I used to work there). Supported by Higher Education for Development (which uses fairly small grants to […]
High profile battles over gay rights is something more commonly found in the West rather than in Africa. But the proposed changes to Uganda’s anti-gay laws being considered by Parliament has brought that country to the forefront of the global battle for LGBT rights. Homosexuality is already criminalized in Uganda but the Anti-Homosexuality Bill currently […]
This week I returned from a trip to Uganda. While there I saw evidence of the favorite topic of many in the international development community – the role of Chinese foreign assistance in Africa. Across the street from the parliament building is an enormous construction site with working ongoing 24 hours a day, 7 days […]
If natural gas is so cheap right now, limping along between $2.50 and $5.50 per thousand cubic feet, why did Exxon pay the equivalent of $41 billion for natural gas giant XTO Energy? There is a global glut of natural gas, which won’t be disappearing any time soon. I can think of a couple reasons. […]