In The News

Does Destroying Ivory Really Save Elephants?

Mwangi Kimenyi March 26, 2015
Africa’s elephant and rhino populations have declined precipitously as the continent’s illegal ivory and rhino horn trade expands out of control. Despite the international ban on the ivory trade in 1989, African governments have failed to address the poaching. In an effort to disrupt the illegal ivory market, African governments’ anti-poaching teams regularly burn intercepted stocks of ivory....

The German Road: Congo Project Shows Pitfalls of Development Aid

Samiha Shafy March 25, 2015
From 2002 to 2011, Welthungerhilfe, a major German relief organization, invested in road construction for the Democratic Republic of Congo, National Road N2 is “613-kilometers (381-miles) long, stretching all the way to Kisangani, a city on the shores of the country's namesake: the Congo River,” explains Samiha Shafy for Spiegel Online. The goal was that a road stretching into the jungle...

Tunisia Museum Attack Is Blow to Democratic Shift

David D. Kirkpatrick March 20, 2015
In the wake of the Arab Spring protests, Tunisia became a success story by developing a democratic government and economy that serve citizens. “Gunmen in military uniforms killed 19 people on Wednesday in a midday attack on a museum in downtown Tunis, dealing a new blow to the tourist industry that is vital to Tunisia as it struggles to consolidate the only transition to democracy after the Arab...

Chad, Niger Launch Offensive Against Boko Haram

Krista Larson and Dalatou Mamane March 11, 2015
Forces from Chad and Niger are crossing into northern Nigeria to join the fight against the Boko Haram extremists whose name means “Western education is forbidden.” Boko Haram, which has kidnapped and enslaved large groups of schoolgirls, has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State extremists who control and terrorize strips of territory in Syria and Iraq. Generals leading the offensive insist...

Identity Politics, Corruption, Insecurity: Brave New World

John Githongo March 10, 2015
The phrase “identity politics” describes a range of political activity focused on shared experiences of injustice and marginalization, suggests the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. A global challenge emerges in addressing the activities, whether peaceful protests associated with the Arab Spring or the rise of vicious Islamic State and Nigerian Boko Haram extremists. Partisanship, neglect and...

Islamic State Militants Find a Foothold in Chaotic Libya

Maggie Michael February 20, 2015
Civil war, religious divides and power vacuums in Iraq, Syria and now Libya have made it easy for Islamic State terrorists to take patchy control, attracting new recruits while targeting oil facilities, banks and other businesses and government offices. Well publicized violence swiftly subdues the divided citizens: The Islamic State released a video showing the beheading of a group of Coptic...

Pull of Global Economy Increases Latin America-Africa Engagement

Manuel Orozco and Julia Yansura January 26, 2015
Africa and Latin America are opening new trade and diplomatic relations, particularly in four key countries of Brazil, Mexico, Cuba and South Africa. Compared with their exports to the northern hemisphere, the exchange of goods between Latin American and African countries remains small, around 3 percent. However, trade between the two continents grew 75 percent between 2005 and 2012, and new...