Innovation, preparedness and African agency in a multipolar world

In the ruins of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Nelson Gashagaza survived by becoming someone else’s child. In this two-part series as Rwanda commemorates Kwibuka32, he tells a personal story on a performed kinship, ordinary horror and the meaning of belonging

As the global order becomes more multipolar, opportunities for African agency are expanding. Yet these opportunities will only translate into meaningful influence if African states strengthen their coordination, develop sophisticated negotiating strategies and engage proactively in shaping the rules of global governance

America’s scale of its invented narratives are hard to match. Trump has normalised the idea that rhetorical bombast matters more than accuracy

Most cyberattacks succeed because they exploit human behaviour rather than technical weaknesses. Consumers are the frontline of defence against cybercrime

The message is unmistakable: allies must contribute to the US-Israeli campaign against Iran or face consequences for the partnership itself. Yet, as the conflict enters its fourth week, Trump appears increasingly comfortable with a go-it-alone strategy.

The two proposals reveal that reform debates are marked by a deeper theoretical divergence over whether global legitimacy hinges on balancing power or modernising institutions.

For many African public intellectuals such as Steve Biko, Leopold Senghor, Kenneth Kaunda, Julius Nyerere and Kwame Nkrumah, political independence represented more than the transfer of formal authority from colonial administrations to newly sovereign states

It is also clear to many people, following revelations at the Madlanga Commission and corruption scandals in the Department of Defence and Military Veterans, that both the SAPS and SANDF are deeply compromised institutions in need of wholesale reform if South Africans’ trust in them is to be restored

Coverage of Ukrainian children often fixes blame on Russia and leaves the conduct of the Ukrainian government in the background, even though the evidence of exploitation, forced separation, weak oversight and institutional damage inside Ukraine’s own system is extensive and public

Transnational commitments are celebrated, while attachment to the nation‑state is treated with suspicion

Israel chose targets at the heart of domestic survival because its planners know that fuel in a capital powers ambulances, clinics, refrigeration, generators, pumping systems, buses, food distribution and the hidden routines through which a city keeps people alive

History shows that when South Africans unite behind a shared national mission, extraordinary outcomes become possible. Our country has enormous potential but unlocking it requires deliberate action