Recent rebel pullbacks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have inspired some tepid hope that full-scale chaos is avoidable. But while we all want good news to emerge from the beleaguered Congo, the reality is that good news usually ends up being fleeting. Anneke van Woudenberg, a senior researcher on the DRC for Human […]
Today marks the deadline for the new Congress of the People (Cope) to respond in writing to the ANC's legal demands that the new organization change its name. The ANC's attempts to force a name change from Core strikes me as a petty and frivolous nuisance. It would be hard for the ANC to claim […]
The Movement for Democratic Change's Morgan Tsvangirai does not want further sanctions placed on Zimbabwe. Whatever the country's political situation, which seems likely to remain as fragmented and stalemated as ever, with Robert Mugabe firmly in control, Tsvangirai sees sanctions only doing harm to a populace already suffering deeply. Tsvangirai clearly seems to take into […]
South African politics are nothing if not colorful. Senzo Mchunu, the KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary general of the African National Congress claims that the Congress of the People's Mosiuoa Lekota needs to stop “urinating” on the ANC.
In an exciting change, the Foreign Policy Association is combining the South Africa Blog with this Africa Blog, which will be the new permanent site of FPA Africa commentary. I will continue to post on South African issues, but this transition will be better for me, as keeping both blogs has not always been easy, […]
It is probably not particularly surprising that the dissidents who broke from the ANC to form the Congress of the People (Cope) are also rethinking the relationship between parties, government, and the state. Cope chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota argued on Sunday in Durban that South Africans should have the opportunity to vote for individuals rather than […]
What options does the United States have to help address the ugly stalemate in Somalia? Bronwyn Bruton, an International Policy Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, has an assessment at the Center for Strategic & International Studies’ Africa Policy Forum.
Is it possible for a honeymoon to end before the wedding vows have been exchanged? Even as the ANC continues to suffer high-profile defections, the Shikota Movement and its Congress of the People (Cope appears to be the new acronym) is rumored to be beset by divisions. Even if we grant the possibility that many […]
South Africa's highest court has unequivocally rejected Thabo Mbeki's application to have the decision that effectively cost him his Presidency (or at least provided the excuse for his antagonists to unsheath the knives) reconsidered. The National Prosecuting Authority is appealing the same case, albeit on different grounds, but ultimately, Mbeki's long-shot effort has failed, and […]
In a move that should surprise no one at all, leading members of Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF have been pushing Mugabe to form a new government immediately with a composition favorable to the party. Mugabe is likely to comply, which will sound the final death knell of the negotiations with Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC and will accomplish […]
The documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell is receiving wonderful reviews in the United States. The movie reveals the ways in which brave groups of Liberian women mobilized to demand peace in their beleaguered nation. Liberia seems tentatively to be on the right path in no small part because of what these women did […]
At World Defense Review J. Peter Pham speculates as to what an Obama administration might mean for Africa (and what Africa might mean to an Obama administration. Here is a sample: Senator Barack Obama's election as the forty-fourth President of the United States is, of course, a historic milestone in America. But it is also […]
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