Overview 2010 was a year of both change and continuity in African affairs. The changes were clear: Kenyans approved a new Constitution, though the implementation will take time. South Africa successfully hosted the football World Cup, confounding the naysayers and taking another huge step forward in the process of nation building. There were elections across […]
Home away from home “Welcome to the home of your ancestors,” declared Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade in October 2010, welcoming 163 young Haitians to the campuses of many leading Senegalese universities, including the School Polytechnique of Tièce, the Faculty of Agronomy of Bambay and Cheikh Anta Diop University in downtown Dakar. “Your ancestors left here by physical […]
Peter Feaver of Shadow Government has penned (keyboarded?) a provocative analysis of coming dilemma facing President Obama and his forthcoming Afghan war decision. Feaver first recalls the candidate Obama’s rhetoric on the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, reminding us all how hawkish the future president sounded on Afghanistan. Feaver than discusses how some things have […]
This just in: Matt Bryza was confirmed today (December 29) as the new US ambassador to Azerbaijan. About time. This was a “recess appointment” by the White House, necessitated by a “hold” placed on Bryza by California Senator Barbara Boxer and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, both Democrats responding to strenuous criticism of Bryza from […]
It’s been a month since the results of the contested November 28th presidential election were announced in Cote D’Ivoire, where things have taken a turn for the worse over the end-of-year holidays. As tensions and violence escalate – at least 170 people have been killed so far in post-election violence according to the UN — […]
The Islamabad station chief of the Central Intelligence Agency hastily departed from Pakistan last week after his cover was blown due to a suspected deliberate leak by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence. This act is the latest evidence of the tense relationship between the two spy agencies. It is believed that his cover was blown in retaliation […]
The crisis in Cote d’Ivoire continues to accelerate. Laurent Gbagbo has dug in his heels, insisting he is the rightful president despite all indications being that the election results clearly favored his opponent Alassane Ouattara. Well more than 10,000 Ivorians have fled the country. As a result the presidents of three nearby countries — Benin, […]
In December 14-15, Chinese officials met with their American counterpart in Washington DC for the plenary meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Committee on Commerce and Trade (JCCT). This was the 21st Session of the JCCT, high level talks between U.S. and Chinese government officials intended to address the more technical trade issues of the bilateral […]
Greetings and welcome to the African Union blog. This blog is being launched in coordination with the publication of the latest of FPA’s Headline Series, backgrounders produced for more than half a century. “The Quest for African Unity: 50 Years of Independence and Interdependence,” offers a short history of Pan-Africanism and the Organization of African […]
Overview Although this year was China’s year of the “Diplomatic Misstep”, it is often overlooked that Beijing, likely because it is not a democracy, has a domestic audience it must cater to. Much of China’s contemporary foreign policy has it’s roots in smoldering nationalism, a beast which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) did not create, […]
On Saturday, Iraq’s new oil minister, Abdul Kareem Luaibi, announced that Iraq will recognize an array of oil deals signed by the Kurds in northern Iraq. Luaibi, who has been at the head of negotiations with the Kurdistan Regional Government also said in his statement that dialog “with our Kurdish brothers will continue in order to reach a resolution […]
A female suicide bomber has killed at least 41 Pakistanis at an aid distribution center near the Afghanistan border in North West Pakistan. This is the first time that a woman has been employed to detonate an explosive vest in a crowded area and marks an uptick in strategy in what has always a brutal […]
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