Africa Horn Now

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Africa Horn Now

INSIGHT

Splinterlands: The View from 2050

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John Feffer | November 11th, 2015 | lobelog.com Let me start with a confession. I’m old-fashioned and I have an old-fashioned profession. I’m a geo-paleontologist. That means I dig around in archives to exhume the extinct: all the empires and federations and territorial unions that have passed into history. I practically created the profession of geo-paleontology as a young … [Read more...] about Splinterlands: The View from 2050

How did the gifted Jacob Zuma in Burundi fail so dismally at governing SA?

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George Rautenbach  | September 10 2016 Business Day IT WAS a cold, grey Monday morning in Paris, France in 1999. Being in charge of a presidential visit is a logistical nightmare but this one was easy. No escorts, no bells, no whistles. A low-key visit to address a meeting of the international socialist movement. Our VIP was a very relaxed and no-nonsense person. … [Read more...] about How did the gifted Jacob Zuma in Burundi fail so dismally at governing SA?

France defended Charlie Hebdo’s right to offend – so why can’t a Muslim woman in a burkini ‘offend’ us too?

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Sunny Hundal | 25 August 2016 | The Independent Whether or not people feel unsafe over a modest piece of clothing is besides the point. They should have no right to impose their prejudice on others Despite angry crowds, François Hollande defiantly declared: “We've seen the protests, and I would say that in France all beliefs are respected. .... in particular freedom of … [Read more...] about France defended Charlie Hebdo’s right to offend – so why can’t a Muslim woman in a burkini ‘offend’ us too?

Choosing Violence

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Oded Na'aman | August 15, 2016 | Boston Review As a child brought up in the Jewish-Israeli educational system, I was taught that none of Israel’s wars was a war of choice. Like most Israelis, I believed that Israel uses its military might only to defend its citizens from imminent danger. This is the Israeli ethos of necessary violence: peace is our yearning; war is our … [Read more...] about Choosing Violence

When You’re A Nomad, You Need Portable Art

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Diane Cole | July 15, 2016 | NPR Think of it as art to go — and on the go. That's the theme for the exhibition "Designs for Mobile Living: Art from Eastern Africa" at the Baltimore Museum of Art. There are a mere 28 objects, ranging from brightly decorated shields and glass-beaded belts for carrying spears to finely crafted necklaces and painstakingly carved drinking … [Read more...] about When You’re A Nomad, You Need Portable Art

Why too many African countries are stuck in the Third World

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Sandile Swana and Lumkile Mondi  | July 14 2016 | Business Day ONE of the most hotly debated topics in development economics is: what does it take to steer a poor country from Third World to First World status? It is a debate of particular relevance in Africa, which is home to a large number of countries in the Third World category. It also has some of the … [Read more...] about Why too many African countries are stuck in the Third World

Global academic collaboration: a new form of colonisation?

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Hanne Kristine Adriansen | July 8, 2016| THE CONVERSATION Higher education in Africa is as old as the pyramids in Egypt. But the continent’s ancient institutions have long disappeared. The type of higher education that’s delivered in Africa today, from curriculum to degree structure and the languages of instruction, is rooted in colonialism. This has led many to … [Read more...] about Global academic collaboration: a new form of colonisation?

Chilcot report: The demonisation of Tony Blair distracts from where things really went wrong in Iraq

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Patrick Cockburn | 6 July, 2016 | The Independent It wasn't just Tony Blair who was culpable for chaos and slaughter in Iraq after the war, writes Patrick Cockburn Denunciations of Tony Blair as the evil architect of Britain’s involvement in the Iraq War often dominate discussions of what happened there and many will look to the Chilcot inquiry to provide further … [Read more...] about Chilcot report: The demonisation of Tony Blair distracts from where things really went wrong in Iraq