Martin Plaut | 20 March 2018 | The New Statesman Across the continent, UK expertise is being deployed online to sway elections and target dissidents. Cambridge Analytica, the British political consultancy caught up in a huge scandal over its use of Facebook data, has boasted that they ran the successful campaigns of President Uhuru Kenyatta in the 2013 and 2017 Kenyan … [Read more...] about Cambridge Analytica and the digital war in Africa
Archives for March 2018
The Blesser’s Curse: How sugar daddies and vaginal microbes created the world’s largest HIV epidemic
Olga Khazan | Mar 22, 2018 | The Atlantic VULINDLELA, South Africa—Mbali N. was just 17 when a well-dressed man in his 30s spotted her. She was at a mall in a nearby town, alone, when he called out. He might have been captivated by her almond eyes and soaring cheekbones. Or he might have just seen her for what she was: young and poor. She tried to ignore him, she told … [Read more...] about The Blesser’s Curse: How sugar daddies and vaginal microbes created the world’s largest HIV epidemic
Africa’s most ambitious joint venture kicks off with $3.4tr trade deal
BERNA NAMATA | Saturday March 24 2018 | The East African The failure by Africa’s largest economies, Nigeria and South Africa, to sign the $3.4 trillion free-trade zone agreements in Kigali on Wednesday has cast a cloud over the integration given the strategic role the two countries play in continental trade. More than 40 countries signed the protocol to the treaty … [Read more...] about Africa’s most ambitious joint venture kicks off with $3.4tr trade deal
How to Solve the Global Water Crisis
Scott Moore | March 20, 2018 | Foreign Affairs The Real Challenges Are Not Technical, but Political Few people would argue with the idea that the world has a serious problem with water. For the past several years, water has consistently been named as a leading risk in the World Economic Forum’s annual survey of global leaders, and newspapers worldwide are awash with … [Read more...] about How to Solve the Global Water Crisis
If I were the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, I’d be cynical about this state visit
Robert Fisk | 07 March 2018 | The Independent The truth is, you just can't tell who your real friends are these Days Thank heavens Theresa May is giving a warm welcome today to the illustrious Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, His Royal Majesty Mohammad bin Salman. For it is meet and right that she should do so. His Royal Highness is a courageous Arab reformer, keen to drag … [Read more...] about If I were the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, I’d be cynical about this state visit
The Biggest Danger of North Korea Talks
Thomas Wright | 09 March 2018 | The Atlantic Kim Jong Un is offering a deal at a price that could be way too high—and that the president could easily accept. In August of last year, days before he was forced out of the White House, Steve Bannon gave an unusual interview to Robert Kuttner, a journalist at The American Prospect. The article made headlines because Bannon … [Read more...] about The Biggest Danger of North Korea Talks
AU chief overlooks Trump’s insult
Agency Staff | 08 March 2018 | Business Day The AU head tells Rex Tillerson that a letter from Donald Trump reaffirming his commitment to Africa ‘put the incident in the past’ Addis Ababa — Washington’s top diplomat began his first Africa tour Thursday by meeting with the African Union chief, who said the continent had moved on from a reported insult by President Donald … [Read more...] about AU chief overlooks Trump’s insult
Strongmen Are Weaker Than They Look
Steven A. Cook | March 2, 2018 |Foreign Policy Authoritarians are on the rise around the world, but history shows they’re mostly helpless. When Muammar al-Qaddafi came in from the cold in the mid-2000s, the “mad dog” of the Middle East embarked upon top-down reforms that were friendly to international markets, investors, the United States, and Europe. Although he became … [Read more...] about Strongmen Are Weaker Than They Look
A Trade War on the Poor
Amrita Narlikar | March 5, 2018 | Foreign Affairs How a Collapse of the WTO Would Hurt the Worst Off Last week, President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would be slapping steep tariffs on imported steel and aluminum set off fears of a global trade war. But in reality, the international trading system has been unraveling for some time. After taking a quick glance at … [Read more...] about A Trade War on the Poor