Nigeria @ 50
The direction that Nigeria takes — towards a future of hope and growth, or one of backsliding and defeat — depends, to a great extent, on the country’s future leadership.
Gun Violence and Children
Have we no shame or respect for children’s lives in Somalia or even our own country?
Dodging World Bank Schizophrenia: The Looting of Africa Continues?
The continent’s own elites, together with the West and now China, are still making Africans progressively poorer, thanks to the extraction of raw materials.
The Gambia: A Dictator’s Anti-Media War
Since the 1994 coup d’etat that saw President Yahya Jammeh rise to power, the Gambian media has been forced to work under repressive and restrictive conditions.
A Nation still Divided: Rwanda’s elections provoke fierce debate at Washington briefing
A tense briefing on Rwanda’s August 9 elections demonstrated that politics still evoke a strong emotional response from many Rwandans, 16 years after their devastating genocide.
An Exit from Debt — The Need for Fair and Transparent Arbitration for Sovereign Debt in Africa and Beyond
Greece’s dramatic debt crisis earlier this year drew attention to the failure of the international financial architecture to deal with sovereign debt crises in an orderly, fair, and transparent way. Yet Greece ’s problem isn’t new. Many impoverished nations struggle under crushing debt burdens, risking default or paying debts at the expense of critical domestic needs.
Briefing: Rwandan Elections and Implications for The Great Lakes Region
President Obama said, in his 2009 speech in Accra, Ghana, that America should support strong institutions and not strong men. However in the case of Rwanda, this has been no more than rhetoric. Rwandans, like most Africans, cheered Obama’s election, hoping that it might signal a new, more peaceful and cooperative relationship between the U.S. and Africa, but Obama has expanded AFRICOM, the U.S. Africa Command, and now he remains silent as Rwanda’s strongman, President Paul Kagame, prepares a sham presidential election to retain his brutal grip on power.
Arts Event: Emile YX
Emile YX? represents the positive face of hip-hop. As much community activist as public entertainer, he must be one of the most dedicated hip-hop practitioners on the globe.
Africa: No Butter, But Lots of Guns
The G8 is reneging on humanitarian aid pledges to Africa while U.S. military aid to Africa swells.
DR Congo: Independence 50 Years Later
Intermingled frustration, disgust, African pride, and human compassion marked the 50th anniversary of the troubled nation’s independence from Belgium.
Immigrants’ American Dreams
We need a system that responds to the realities of immigration in this country while rejecting the knee-jerk discrimination that the Arizona law represents.
Liberals Back Dictator’s Ethnic War
The Pentagon has some unusual bedfellows in its operation in Uganda.
Brown Bag Discussion: The Perils of Extreme Energy
The oil industry’s reckless pursuit of extreme energy carries with it the inevitable risks of environmental and political peril. The Gulf oil spill is only the latest in a series of disasters. Arctic drilling, deals with African dictatorships, natural gas pipelines in Central Asia: the pursuit of fossil fuels has brought the United States into war, corruption, and ecological messes.
Plugging Africa’s Leak
Money is illegally flowing out of Africa. Here’s how to fix the problem.
From the Frontlines: May 7th, 2010
News and commentary on policy and social movements.