The battle for ideas, for allegiance, for identity has gone on in Africa as it has everywhere. Breaking up existing state territories in Africa would be at least as arbitrary as when imperial powers did so at the Berlin conference in 1888.
In post-revolutionary Egypt, many activists have shifted their attentions to drafting the next constitution, which they hope will deal a coup de grâce to the nation’s vestigial ills. But such efforts seem misplaced. Constitutions everywhere are seldom panaceas, and no legal document will right the
Media hype created by the live TV broadcast of Mubarak’s trial has added extra stress to an already sensitive and highly complicated court case.
All sides guilty of violating international law in Somalia, says new report. Wave of attacks rock Iraq. Assault on Syrian port enters third day. US officials reject report on drone death figures. Gaddafi defiant as rebels claim control of West. All this and more in today’s briefing...
The detention of Ahmed Warsame in the US has renewed the discussion about possible cooperation between the powerful Somali Islamist insurgent movement Al-Shabab and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Christopher Anzalone assesses the links.
A study of the healthcare environment of expectant mothers in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa reveal severe problems that both the national government and overseas donors should address, says David Mepham.
China publicly links recent attacks in Xinjiang province to Pakistan-based terrorist group. Radical anti-US cleric al-Sadr warns Washington that military trainers could become targets. After years of fighting, al-Shabab withdraws from Mogadishu. NATO, Kosovo and Serbia reach agreement following vi
The political tumult in Egypt continues as the six-month anniversary of the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak nears. The rising Islamist influence puts the possibility of a religious turn in the revolution on the agenda. But how real is this prospect? Tarek Osman assesses it by looking at the deeper forc
The experience of entering the world of the human rights "professional" leads the author from Cairo to Liberia, from multilateral organisation to social enterprise
Rwandan refugees in Britain live in fear of their government’s spies, whilst Britain remains Rwanda’s largest donor. Britain must avoid nurturing another African dictator.
A huge gathering in central Cairo on 29 July 2011 is a measure of the fluid state of Egypt’s political transformation, says Vidar Helgesen.
