In The News

To Soothe Anger Over Subsidies, US Cotton Tries Wooing Africa

Scott Kilman August 5, 2005
Jim Butler, deputy undersecretary at the US Department of Agriculture, was greeted with fanfare when he visited Mali, pledging US support to help increase the productivity of cotton farming there. The United States has recently taken an interest in "helping" West African cotton farmers produce more effectively, but the motivation may be more just benevolence. As developing nations...

Africa After the Music Stops

Susan E. Rice August 2, 2005
From the Live 8 concerts to the lofty agenda of the G-8 summit, the world's wealthiest nations have been charged with the daunting task of combating African poverty. On the surface, writes Brookings scholar Susan E. Rice, the Gleneagles Summit accomplished more than many expected. Member nations pledged to double African aid, provide debt relief for certain countries, and address the...

The Other War Against Terror…at $8 a Day

Matthew Thompson July 20, 2005
An unpublicized front in the "war on terror," the island nation of the Philippines is a frequent target for jihadist attacks, and a training site for extremist groups. Tragic bombings, such as those in London, have been mirrored in the Philippines. The country must often take a backseat to news from other areas of the globe, when, in reality, it is Southeast Asia's frontline in the...

How Africans See the Initiative to Help the Continent

Bashir Goth July 8, 2005
As the G-8 discusses plans to cancel Africa's debt this week, most agree that the world's richest countries can and should aid the ailing continent. In fact, the group agreed to double aid to Africa by 2010. But in the excitement surrounding the G-8 summit, few have asked Africans how they feel about the plan. The answer, supplied by African journalist Bashir Goth, is surprisingly...

Africa Needs an Al-Jazeera

Philip Fiske de Gouveia July 6, 2005
The spotlight on Africa of late has focused on many laudable goals: sustainable development, debt relief, disease prevention and control, and reining in governmental corruption. But promoting democracy and permanently establishing open and honest government, Philip Fiske de Gouveia writes, is inherently linked to a feature which most Africa nations still lack: a free press. The overwhelming...

Unlike Africa, Crisis in Asia Not Yet on Political Radar

Eric Johnston July 6, 2005
As the recent Live 8 concerts and G-8 summit shed light on Africa's lingering problems, Asia's AIDS crisis is struggling to attract public attention. With the media focused on Africa, the 7th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, held last weekend in Japan, failed to raise the profile of the crisis in Asia, leading some to criticize the bad timing of the conference....

Choking on Aid Money in Africa

Erich Wiedemann July 5, 2005
When G-8 leaders assemble at the summit in Scotland this week, they face an increasingly complex challenge of reexamining aid packages currently being offered to Africa. Despite the large sums of foreign aid flowing into the troubled continent each year, Africans continue to suffer from malnutrition and disease. Citing factors such as incompetent planning and corruption, a growing number of...