africa & democracy

Tuesday 25th October

Democracy and development: towards Busan

The capacity of new or fragile democratic regimes to deliver development is being closely debated as international agencies prepare for a landmark summit in South Korea. The core issue at stake is presented by Alina Rocha Menocal.
Monday 24th October

Kenya and Somalia: landscape of tension

"Kenya doesn’t know war. We know war." A fractious mix of violence and politics is unsettling the relationship between east African neighbours and putting more pressure on Somalis living in Kenya. The Somali militia group known as al-Shabaab is often viewed as the source of the problem. But the roots of the turmoil go deep in Kenya's own history, says Daniel Branch.
Tuesday 4th October

South Africa’s future: the Malema factor

The rise of the controversial populist Julius Malema is shaking the ruling African National Congress, says Stephen Ellis.
Monday 3rd October

Libya's revolution: tribe, nation, politics

The Libyan war is often portrayed through a “tribal” lens that fails to explain how the country’s tribes coexist with a sense of nationhood, says Igor Cherstich. 
Tuesday 27th September

An African future: beyond the culture of dependency

The experience of poor farmers in Kenya is a lesson in the need for an anti-corruption revolution. (This article is republished in tribute to the pioneering environmentalist Wangari Maathai, who died on 25 September 2011)
Thursday 7th April

Daniel Goldhagen and Kenya: recycling fantasy

Daniel Goldhagen’s book “Worse Than War” includes British colonial rule in Kenya in the 1950s among its case-studies of “elimination”. A close reading of the demographic evidence reveals the falsity of the argument, says David Elstein.

(This article was first published on 4 March 2010)

Wednesday 15th September

Sudan: prospect and lesson

The forthcoming referendum on independence in south Sudan could lead to the break-up of Africa’s biggest country. But if Sudan has failed as a unitary state its end carries dangers, says Richard Cockett.
Tuesday 4th May

Jacob Zuma: a year of drift

The South African president’s achievement on his anniversary in power is to leave his country rudderless and his party at war, says Roger Southall.
Tuesday 13th April

Nigeria and the politics of massacre

The brutal violence against people of a different ethnicity or religion seen in the central Nigerian state of Jos is the most common face of genocide worldwide, says Martin Shaw.
Friday 17th July

Nelson Mandela: assessing the icon

He led South Africa beyond apartheid. He remains a global hero. But what of the revisionist case?
Friday 8th May

Eritrea: slender land, giant prison

A nation once respected for its independence struggle is now crushed by repressive leadership
Tuesday 3rd February

"The Kenya we want"

The post-election violence leaves a bitter legacy. But the official inquiry is a resource for justice
Monday 2nd February

Zimbabwe: wrong way, right way

A desperate people deserve better than another pro-Mugabe political fix. Here it is
Tuesday 22nd July

What is global justice and who is it for? The ICC’s first five years

The International Criminal Court needs to get closer to those in whose name it operates
Monday 14th July

Sudan and the International Criminal Court: a guide to the controversy

To charge Sudan’s president with genocide and war crimes in Darfur is momentous - and dangerous
Thursday 26th June

Sudan in a fix

A rooted conflict and a blocked peace spell stalemate in Sudan and its region

Tuesday 24th June

Zimbabwe: a tale of two leaders

A one-man election faces Africa's leaders with a choice - to turn against Robert Mugabe at last
Tuesday 19th February

Chad: between Sudan’s blitzkrieg and Darfur’s war

The wars provoked by Sudan's revolutionary Islamist regime are failing to deliver the regional control Khartoum seeks
Thursday 10th January

Kenya’s trauma, and how to end it

A national disaster needs a strong, imaginative - and global - response

Monday 7th January

Europe, Africa and EPAs: opportunity or car-crash?

The agreements that govern European-African trade need a late rethink

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