In The News

“The Last Mile”: Laying the Political and Security Foundations First for Peace, Then Development

Bruce Jones August 5, 2015
Poverty, while declining worldwide, is increasingly concentrated in regions fraught with violence and instability. Roughly half of the world’s poor live in fragile states. The international community encourages peace agreements, focusing less on the long-term stability needed for economic development. The Central African Republic is an example, facing cyclical violence and lack of economic...

Zimbabwean Officials: American Man Wanted in Killing of Cecil the Lion

Don Melvin July 29, 2015
A wealthy Minnesota dentist – alleged to have paid $50,000 for baiting a beloved community lion in Zimbabwe to a nearby farm before shooting it with a bow and arrow and then tracking the wounded creature for 40 hours – is wanted by Zimbabwean authorities. US representatives are calling for an investigation, too. “Cecil, who was 13, was a prized lion in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, where...

Obama’s Triumphant Return to Kenya as President

John Githongo July 28, 2015
Kenyans were ecstatic welcoming Barack Obama during his first visit as US president to his father’s homeland. Obama attended the sixth Global Entrepreneurship Summit, a gathering of entrepreneurs at all levels designed to encourage economic growth and innovation. “In general, US foreign policy vis-à-vis Africa has always been transactional,” writes John Githongo, a notable journalist active in...

Will Africa’s Growth Help Africa’s People?

Kanayo F. Nwanze July 23, 2015
Africa has 11 of the world’s 20 fastest growing economies, yet thousands of African youth risk their lives to cross the Mediterranean to pursue opportunities in Europe, notes Kanayo F. Nwanze, president of the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development. He questions if growth and development are improving lives for a broad segment of Africans or just a few. Money won’t solve the challenge...

Why Smart Africa Is Smart Policy

Stuart N. Brotman July 9, 2015
In 2013, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and the secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union at that time organized a summit to address Africa’s need for information communication technology, or ICT, an endeavor they called “Transform Africa.” More than 1,200 delegates from different countries, corporations and civil society groups discussed how to bring ICT to Africa. They...

Challenge of “Recent-ism” in the Middle East

Alexander Evans June 25, 2015
Governments can get caught up in sweeping generalizations about the brutal extremists rampaging through Iraq, Syria and Libya based on the most recent news. ISIL, ISIS, the Islamic State – analysts in and out of governments quarrel over the terrorist group’s name and translation – have slaughtered thousands and may control up to half of Syria and a third of Iraq. The extremists’ hold over any...

Omar Al-Bashir Case Suggests South African Foreign Policy Is Going Rogue

Simon Tisdall June 17, 2015
South Africa’s government allowed the Sudanese president accused of genocide and other war crimes to leave the country – thus weakening the position of the International Criminal Court. “The act of defiance by the president, Jacob Zuma … places him at the head of a growing band of African leaders who argue that the ICC, which issued arrest warrants for Bashir in 2009, is biased against Africa and...