Egypt’s political stability hangs in the balance following recent parliamentary elections that have been widely described as a shambles.
There are increasingly bleak prospects for peace between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army.
While the current crisis in Zimbabwe rests upon the assumption that African leaders are completely resistant to the idea of military intervention in Zimbabwe, Mugabe is slowly taking his country to the brink of complete collapse, as it has already been ostracised by the global political economy.
New voter statistics out in Zimbabwe this week showed the urban centres will be a major battleground in the elections in two weeks’ time. Harare and Bulawayo, the two largest urban centres in the country, now account for a combined 20% of the total voter count of 5,5-million.
Fraught with violence, disease and poverty, Africa is traditionally observed by policymakers through a humanitarian lens. However, the continent’s emerging geo-strategic importance transcends such condescending colonial overtones to command the attention of the United States beyond the moral, humanitarian and security imperatives.
Thousands who fled the conflict in Darfur for safe refuge in Chad are now on the move yet again to escape unstable conditions in the Chadian capital, Ndjamena, shining the spotlight on the African Union’s inability to protect them. Since the AU’s inception in 2002, the pan-African body has lacked funds and leadership.
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/ 26 October 2007
In the past, ousted tyrants would expect to spend the rest of their waning years in comfortable exile, oblivious to the insidious reach of international law, tribunals and justice. This is slowly changing, however, as rampant corruption, plunder of mineral wealth and genocide with impunity has finally garnered the attention and ire of the world.
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/ 5 September 2007
Despite an improvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) overall security situation; despite the formation of a transitional government from the main warring factions; and despite last year’s first multiparty elections since independence in 1960, peace and stability remain elusive, writes Hany Besada.
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/ 8 February 2007
There has never been a better time for Somalia’s leaders to use the opportunity given to them by recent events and establish the lasting peace that has eluded them for the past 16 years. The crushing defeat of forces loyal to the Union of Islamic Courts by the army of Somalia’s transitional federal government has paved the way for the establishment of Somalia’s first functioning central government.
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/ 15 November 2006
African leaders have committed themselves to hold each other accountable for the implementation of the much-hailed New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad). However, five years on and questions have started to surface about the effectiveness and viability of the Nepad process.