PBS: Escaping Eritrea … [Read More...] about ካብ ውሽጢ ቤት ማእሰርታት ኤርትራ
Autocracy With Chinese Characteristics—Beijing’s Behind-the-Scenes Reforms
Yuen Yuen Ang | May/June 2018 Issue | Foreign Affairs Sooner or later this economy will slow,” the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman declared of China in 1998. He continued: “That’s when China will need a government that is legitimate. . . . When China’s 900 million villagers get phones, and start calling each other, this will inevitably become a more open … [Read more...] about Autocracy With Chinese Characteristics—Beijing’s Behind-the-Scenes Reforms
‘Zambia will become another Zimbabwe,’ warns opposition leader
Simon Allison | 26 Apr 2018 | Mail & Guardian The last time I spoke to Hakainde Hichilema, he was trapped in a panic room in his Lusaka home. Dozens of riot police had stormed the opposition leader’s house in a violent predawn raid, and were now waiting outside to arrest him — or worse. “This guy, [President Edgar] Lungu, wants to kill me,” he said, his voice shaking … [Read more...] about ‘Zambia will become another Zimbabwe,’ warns opposition leader
Zimbabwe backtracks on its promise to clear the way for diaspora to vote
Tom Wilson, Amogelang Mbatha and Brian Latham | 24 April 2018 | Business Day Zimbabwe does not have enough time before its general election in July to make the constitutional changes necessary to allow people living outside the country to vote, Foreign Minister Sibusiso Moyo said, backtracking on a statement he made a week ago. Zimbabweans living abroad should return … [Read more...] about Zimbabwe backtracks on its promise to clear the way for diaspora to vote
Israel courts East Africa states to resolve its migrant crisis
ALLAN OLINGO | Saturday April 28 2018 | The East African Israel has abandoned a plan to forcibly deport African migrants, after failing to immediately find a willing country to take them in. In a Supreme Court filing on Tuesday, Tel Aviv said it had dropped its months-long plans to expel thousands of mostly Eritrean and Sudanese migrants who cross into the country … [Read more...] about Israel courts East Africa states to resolve its migrant crisis
Why Democracy Doesn’t Deliver
Dambisa Moyo | April 26, 2018 | Foreign Policy Endless elections, unqualified leaders, uninformed voters, and short-term thinking are impeding economic growth. Only 19 percent of Americans today say they can trust their government to do what is right. Meanwhile, citizens in developing countries see authoritarian leaders as more trustworthy than democratic … [Read more...] about Why Democracy Doesn’t Deliver
The Sources of Soviet Conduct
"X" (George F. Kennan) | July 1947 Issue | Foreign Affairs The political personality of Soviet power as we know it today is the product of ideology and circumstances: ideology inherited by the present Soviet leaders from the movement in which they had their political origin, and circumstances of the power which they now have exercised for nearly three decades in Russia. … [Read more...] about The Sources of Soviet Conduct
Cambridge Analytica and the digital war in Africa
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
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