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Archives for October 2016

Facebook’s Free Basics Is an African Dictator’s Dream

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Nanjala Nyabola | October 27, 2016 | Foreign Policy The tech giant’s no-frills app gives governments a version of the internet they can influence, if not totally control. NAIROBI — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s surprise visit to Kenya and Nigeria in September saw him eat ugali fish with his hands and crash a Nollywood music video shoot in between whirlwind tours of … [Read more...] about Facebook’s Free Basics Is an African Dictator’s Dream

Understanding the Roots of Conflict in South Sudan

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Katherine Noel | September 14, 2016 | Council on Foreign Relations Five years after gaining independence, South Sudan is gripped by a civil war that has killed an estimated 50,000 and displaced 1.6 million. Civil war along ethnic lines broke out in December 2013, following President Salva Kiir’s accusations that former Vice President Riek Machar was plotting a coup d'état. … [Read more...] about Understanding the Roots of Conflict in South Sudan

Remembering the Palestinians murdered at Kafr Qasim six decades ago

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Yoav Galai | October 28, 2016 | The Conversation October 2016 marks the 60th anniversary of one of the key events in Jewish-Arab history within Israel: the Kafr Qasim massacre of 1956, in which 49 women, men and children were shot dead by an army unit instructed to kill all breakers of a badly implemented curfew. This event is not part of the national Israeli … [Read more...] about Remembering the Palestinians murdered at Kafr Qasim six decades ago

ICC’s toughest trial: Africa vs. ‘Infamous Caucasian Court’

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Ed Cropley | JOHANNESBURG | Fri Oct 28, 2016 | REUTERS South Africa and Burundi's decision to quit the International Criminal Court (ICC) and an attack by Gambia against its supposed 'Caucasian' justice are likely to embolden other African states to leave the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal. Although criticizing the Hague-based institution for perceived … [Read more...] about ICC’s toughest trial: Africa vs. ‘Infamous Caucasian Court’

Calais minors lured from camp then abandoned by authorities

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Lisa O'Carroll in Calais, Amelia Gentleman and Alan Travis in London | Thursday 27 October 2016 | The Guardian UK and France accused of breaching human rights as children forced to sleep in makeshift conditions for second night The British and French governments were accused of breaching children’s human rights as up to 50 teenagers were abandoned by … [Read more...] about Calais minors lured from camp then abandoned by authorities

Why it’s not all about security as West beefs up military in Africa’s Sahel

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Keith Somerville | October 26, 2016 | The Conversation The US and France have bolstered military strength across vast areas of Africa. But the interest is also driven by Western strategic calculations. Over the past few weeks the United States and France have pledged considerable extra funds to strengthening their military presence in Africa’s Sahel region – a narrow, … [Read more...] about Why it’s not all about security as West beefs up military in Africa’s Sahel

Exiting the ICC: South Africa betrays the world and its own history

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Henning Melber | October 26, 2016 | The Conversation Once upon a time there was a country the majority of whose people were oppressed and systematically discriminated against by a minority regime. The violation of human rights was a structural feature of its system, euphemistically called “separate development”. The execution of power claimed to be based on the rule … [Read more...] about Exiting the ICC: South Africa betrays the world and its own history

Is the International Criminal Court Crumbling Before Our Eyes?

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David Bosco | October 26, 2016 | Foreign Policy With three African countries giving notice that they intend to abandon the ICC, a coordinated exodus might soon be coming. In April, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands ceremonially opened the International Criminal Court’s new headquarters, nestled on the outskirts of The Hague near the North Sea dunes. The building … [Read more...] about Is the International Criminal Court Crumbling Before Our Eyes?

The Gulf Also Rises: The Next Economic Center of Gravity

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Rory Miller | October 24, 2016| Foreign Affairs Speaking on live television during a visit to Cairo earlier this year, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman announced plans to build a bridge between his kingdom and Sharm el-Sheikh, on the tip of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. This ambitious construction and engineering project, dubbed the King Salman Causeway, represented a … [Read more...] about The Gulf Also Rises: The Next Economic Center of Gravity