PBS: Escaping Eritrea … [Read More...] about ካብ ውሽጢ ቤት ማእሰርታት ኤርትራ
UPFRONT
A QUESTION OF BREEDING: How Monsanto’s GM cotton sowed trouble in Africa
JOE BAVIER | Dec. 8, 2017 | REUTERS When America’s biotech giant tried to export its know-how to small cotton farmers in Burkina Faso, there was a problem: The quality sank. BOBO-DIOULASSO, Burkina Faso - In 2000, farmers in Burkina Faso, Africa’s top cotton grower, were desperate. Their cotton fetched top prices because its high-quality fibre lent a luxurious sheen to … [Read more...] about A QUESTION OF BREEDING: How Monsanto’s GM cotton sowed trouble in Africa
North Korea Revealed: The thinking behind Kim Jong Un’s “madness”
HYONHEE SHIN and JAMES PEARSON | Nov. 30, 2017 | REUTERS Donald Trump dismisses him as "Little Rocketman," but others discern an evolving strategy behind changes the North Korean leader has made since he came to power. On an icy December day in 2011, North Korea’s new leader Kim Jong Un was accompanied by seven advisers as they escorted the hearse that carried his … [Read more...] about North Korea Revealed: The thinking behind Kim Jong Un’s “madness”
The house of Mugabe crumbles – but it’s too soon to celebrate in Zimbabwe
Stephen Chan | November 17, 2017 | The Conversation It seemed that Robert Mugabe, the 93-year-old Zimbabwean president, would rule his country until he died – but in the end, his fall was very swift. Mugabe’s decision to depose vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa, at the behest of his 52-year-old wife Grace, was the last straw, and the army stepped in to depose him in a … [Read more...] about The house of Mugabe crumbles – but it’s too soon to celebrate in Zimbabwe
The Wolf of Pyongyang: How Kim Jong Un Resembles a CEO
David Kang |August 21, 2017 | Foreign Affairs Western commentators often treat North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un as a joke. In private conversations I have heard U.S. administration officials and military leaders occasionally refer to him as a “fat boy,” a “young playboy,” and a “laughingstock.” Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has even publicly questioned whether he … [Read more...] about The Wolf of Pyongyang: How Kim Jong Un Resembles a CEO
America’s secret role in the Rwandan genocide
Helen C Epstein | Tuesday 12 September 2017 | The Guardian The violence that shocked the world in 1994 did not come from nowhere. While the CIA looked on, its allies in the Ugandan government helped to spread terror and fuel ethnic hatred Between April and July 1994, hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were murdered in the most rapid genocide ever recorded. The killers … [Read more...] about America’s secret role in the Rwandan genocide
No Country for Civilians
JASON PATINKIN | AUGUST 31, 2017 | Foreign Policy The sudden exodus from war-torn South Sudan is the largest Africa has seen since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. This is what a nation without civilians looks like. KAJO KEJI, South Sudan — Brig. Gen. Moses Lokujo stood in the ruins of Loopo, a strategic hilltop village in South Sudan’s lush southern Equatoria region. Less than … [Read more...] about No Country for Civilians
How to Set National Priorities: Making Government Smarter
Bjorn Lomborg | September/October 2017 Issue | Foreign Affairs These days, people for the most part believe that governments should try to promote the general welfare of the populations they serve. The disagreements come over how to do that—what goals to focus on, what policies to adopt, and so on. These questions are usually approached through broad intellectual … [Read more...] about How to Set National Priorities: Making Government Smarter
Why is the US chasing ‘Congolese rebels’ in the Northern Cape?
Govan Whittles, Simon Allison | 25 Aug 2017 | Mail & Guardian The arrival of United States army troops in South Africa for their third joint training military exercise in July sparked panic on social media: “What are they planning? Are they coming to invade us? This is what the ANC is warning us about!” These were some of the reactions to early reports that an … [Read more...] about Why is the US chasing ‘Congolese rebels’ in the Northern Cape?
‘They’re like the mafia’: the super gangs behind Africa’s poaching crisis
Tristan McConnell | Saturday 19 August 2017 | The Guardian Pressure is mounting against multi-faceted smugglers but the legal case, though strong, is enormously complex Late on 6 June 2014 Kenyan police, acting on a tip-off, raided a used car lot in Mombasa’s industrial area. Inside Fuji Motors East Africa Ltd, in one of the lock-ups, they found two tonnes of … [Read more...] about ‘They’re like the mafia’: the super gangs behind Africa’s poaching crisis
Africa’s got plans for a Great Green Wall: why the idea needs a rethink
Lars Laestadius | June 18, 2017 | The Conversation Africa’s Great Green Wall, or more formally The Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative, is the intriguing but misleading name of an enormously ambitious and worthwhile initiative to improve life and resilience in the drylands that surround the Sahara. The idea of a Great Green Wall has come a long way … [Read more...] about Africa’s got plans for a Great Green Wall: why the idea needs a rethink