The New York Times‘ Jeffrey Gettleman is at it again, this time in the pages of Foreign Policy. In an article called “Africa’s Foreign Wars” (and subtitled “Why the continent’s conflicts never end”) we get all of the best, but mostly the worst, of Gettlman in one fell swoop. Yes, he writes clearly and well, […]
Respected Africanist Allison Drew has an insightful piece about the current state of South African politics and society in Political Insight. Her’s is a fairly sobering take on South Africa in 2010. [The article is very much worth reading, but I do wish the editors had not been so sloppy as to provide a map […]
At The Washington Post Michael Gerson worries that internal politics in Southern Sudan will prove to undermine or even destroy the region’s prospects for independence. It’s a legitimate concern, but the question I have is whether hints of unrest or even division would provide Khartoum with the pretext to cancel the independence referendum that is […]
Three big stories coming from Kenya: Kenyan officials have denied any connection between their country and Somalia’s radical Islamist group al-Shabab. I suppose this was the inevitable spin from Nairobi, so I am not surprised. But it seems to me that the more prudent response would be something along the lines of “we are alarmed […]
Although paranoia still reigns in some circles, Interpol, the South African National Defence Forces, and FIFA President Sepp Blatter all have announced that World Cup security preparations meet and exceed all expectations. This is good news, and for those who have been paying attention, not unexpected.
Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir is using the possible unwillingness of a southern rebel group to participate in April’s elections as a pretext to threaten withholding the referendum on southern secession. This should come as a shock to absolutely no one who pays attention to Sudan. The odds have always been poor that al-Bashir would allow […]
. . . A few stories from recent weeks that slipped through the cracks but warrant attention: At The New Republic’s new and exciting online endeavor, “The Book,” Ben Wallace-Wells, a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine and contributing editor at Rolling Stone, reviews Bertrand Taithe’s The Killer Trail: A Colonial Scandal in […]
Sunday also marked another less grim anniversary: Twenty years ago Namibia gained its independence. At Pambazuka Henning Melber looks back on the last two decades and tries to figure out what it all has meant. Emphasizing social and economic inequality, Melber’s assessment is somber, perhaps excessively so. My own take is that while Melber is […]
I dithered all day over writing something on today’s momentous and somber anniversaries in South African history. Texas in Africa beat me to the punch and did so well on the Sharpeville Massacre, which shocked the world fifty years ago today. But because of the epochal shift that Sharpeville helped to bring about it is […]
If you are in the United States, the odds are at least decent that you are knee-deep in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. If you are not, that first sentence probably made no sense. Either way, here are some stories that have caught my eye to take you into the weekend: The Sudanese government has […]
That groaning sound you just heard was South African officials envisioning their worst nightmare. South Africa wants the world to come this summer, and they hope that among those who come will be Africans. But they want the world, including (and I hate to say it, but maybe especially) the Africans, to go back home […]
Is poverty falling across Africa? At least one study seems to indicate as much. But the data on poverty is actually fairly shoddy and so any conclusions should be seen as tentative at best, which does not mean that there is not good news on the poverty front, just that there are too many unknowns […]
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