PBS: Escaping Eritrea … [Read More...] about ካብ ውሽጢ ቤት ማእሰርታት ኤርትራ
UPFRONT
Exclusive: Inside the secret world of US commandos in Africa
Investigation reveals the scale of operations of America’s elite combat troops in Africa Nick Turse, Sam Mednick in Ouagadougou and Amanda Sperber in Nairobi | 11 August 2020 | Mail & Guardian United States Special Operations forces (SOF) — including Navy SEALs, Army Green Berets and Marine Corps Raiders — are the US military’s most highly trained soldiers, … [Read more...] about Exclusive: Inside the secret world of US commandos in Africa
What drove Asia’s economic success stories, and what should Africa emulate?
Mills Soko | July 24, 2020 | The Conversation The remarkable economic transformation of Asia in recent decades has attracted global attention. It has ignited scholarly and policy debates about the region’s development models and strategies. African policymakers have not been immune to the worldwide fascination with the “Asian miracle”. African leaders and officials have … [Read more...] about What drove Asia’s economic success stories, and what should Africa emulate?
China Is Done Biding Its Time
The End of Beijing’s Foreign Policy Restraint? Kurt M. Campbell and Mira Rapp-Hooper | July 15, 2020 | Foreign Affairs ver the course of the novel coronavirus crisis, analysts have watched relations between the United States and China spiral to a historic nadir, with scant hope of recovery. There are many reasons for the slide, but Beijing, in a striking departure from … [Read more...] about China Is Done Biding Its Time
Egypt seeks ‘urgent clarification’ over GERD rising water levels
After conflicting reports, Ethiopia says it is not deliberately filling Blue Nile mega dam, points to heavy rainfall. 16 July 2020| Aljazeera The Egyptian foreign ministry has demanded "urgent clarification" from Ethiopia after conflicting reports on whether it had started filling the reservoir of its giant dam on the Blue Nile River. Ethiopian state television had … [Read more...] about Egypt seeks ‘urgent clarification’ over GERD rising water levels
How Can the Press Best Serve a Democratic Society?
Michael Luo |July 11, 2020 | The New Yorker Henry R. Luce, the publisher of Time Inc., first proposed engaging a panel of scholars on the state of the American press in December of 1942. He suggested the idea to his friend Robert Maynard Hutchins, a legal and educational philosopher who, just over a decade earlier, at the age of thirty, had become the president of the … [Read more...] about How Can the Press Best Serve a Democratic Society?
Inside The Cult of Trump
“HE’S THE CHOSEN ONE TO RUN AMERICA”: INSIDE THE CULT OF TRUMP, HIS RALLIES ARE CHURCH AND HE IS THE GOSPEL Trump’s rallies—a bizarre mishmash of numerology, tweetology, and white supremacy—are the rituals by which he stamps his name on the American dream. As he prepares to resume them for the first time in months, his followers are ready to receive. Jeff Sharlet … [Read more...] about Inside The Cult of Trump
Africa’s ‘Leaders for Life’
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to many of the world’s longest-ruling heads of state, but civil society and regional blocs may be slowing the trend of extending presidential terms in some areas. Backgrounder by Claire Felter | Last updated June 30, 2020 | Council on Foreign Relations Sub-Saharan Africa is home to many of the world’s longest-ruling heads of state. … [Read more...] about Africa’s ‘Leaders for Life’
With Great Demographics Comes Great Power
Why Population Will Drive Geopolitics Nicholas Eberstadt | July/August 2019 | Foreign Affairs Demographics may not be destiny, but for students of geopolitics, they come close. Although conventional measures of economic and military power often receive more attention, few factors influence the long-term competition between great powers as much as changes in the size, … [Read more...] about With Great Demographics Comes Great Power
How a Great Power Falls Apart
Decline Is Invisible From the Inside Charles King | June 30, 2020 | Foreign Affairs On November 11, 1980, a car filled with writers was making its way along a rain-slick highway to a conference in Madrid. The subject of the meeting was the human rights movement in the Soviet Union, and in the vehicle were some of the movement’s long-suffering activists: Vladimir Borisov … [Read more...] about How a Great Power Falls Apart
Hachalu Hundessa: charismatic musician who wasn’t afraid to champion Ethiopia’s Oromo
Ilana Webster-Kogen | July 6, 2020 | The Conversation Anyone who steps into the public sphere in Ethiopia is also a potential political leader. In this atmosphere, an outspoken musician runs a high risk of falling foul of the authorities. One such story unfolded last week – the inexplicable, and still unresolved, murder in Addis Ababa of Hachalu Hundessa, … [Read more...] about Hachalu Hundessa: charismatic musician who wasn’t afraid to champion Ethiopia’s Oromo