In an ideal world politicians who foment political violence in their countries should be brought to justice as swiftly as is feasible. But that last word, “feasible,” is a bit of a problem, at least in the real-life example of Kenya. The violence that wracked the country after the December 2007 elections left in its […]
Things in Cote d’Ivoire continue to get worse. Laurent Gbagbo is digging in and post-election violence has claimed dozens of lives with the toll continuing to climb. There are fears of another civil war breaking out in the country as sanctions appear to be accomplishing nothing. This one will not be resolved before the New […]
ISN Insights has published my latest piece, “A Tale of Two Elections,” which looks at the crisis averted in Guinea and the one broiling in Ivory Coast.
Over at the Council on Foreign Relations John Campbell has a new blog, Africa in Transition, that you should be reading (I have added it to the blogroll as well). Campbell is the Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for African Studies at CFR, is a former ambassador to Nigeria, and served as political counselor at the […]
There is no doubt in my mind that the United States Embassy cables released by WikiLeaks are very embarrassing for the US, and could have serious consequences for diplomacy and international relations. But from an African perspective, the disclosure of diplomatic cables refocuses attention, and reinvigorates debate, on some of the critical issues affecting the […]
In a relatively short period of time since Ghana discovered oil off its coast the country has developed the capacity to drill and extract that oil, a process that reached fruition on Wednesday. Now the question is: Can Ghana avoid the so-called “oil curse” that has enveloped too many West African countries when black gold […]
The election stalemate in the Ivory Coast continues with no clear end in sight. The European Union is planning sanctions to provide pressure on Laurent Gbagbo to yield to Alassane Ouattara, the nearly universally agreed upon winner of last month’s vote. If sanctions are a clear sign that the outside world has no idea what […]
The leaked US embassy cables not only show that the US is concerned about the love affair between African governments and China, but also uncovered secret dealings in smoke-filled rooms between African governments and Beijing. Such back-door-dealings between Namibia and China is one of the latest diplomatic cables to be made public by Wikileaks. If […]
The principles behind affirmative action are pretty basic: Certain people have been kept from enjoying the bounties of society and as a result we need to have policies to provide redress for those inequities. But of course in order to provide that redress certain people are going to feel as if they are going to […]
Football is the world’s favorite sport. Nowhere is it held in higher esteem than Africa. The Mail & Guardian has a fantastic photo slideshow inspired at least in part by South Africa hosting the World Cup. Photographers traveled across to capture the continent’s love of the game. Here is the Mail & Guardian’s introduction to […]
To borrow from William Butler Yeats’s poem, things fall apart; the centre cannot hold, this time in the Ivory Coast despite the recent election designed to reunify the country. A standoff between the incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo and the opposition leader Alassane Quattara is sliding the country back into another civil war. Stubbornly both men […]
Things are not good as the Ivory Coast post-election standoff continues. Both incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and opposition leader Alassane Ouattara have claimed victory after the 28 November poll but virtually every legitimate outside observer recognizes Ouattara as the legitimate winner. Hundreds have fled as food security and shortages of basic goods are becoming a legitimate […]
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