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Waging Nonviolence: The Arab Spring you haven’t heard about — in Mauritania
Photo by Magharebia, via Wikimedia Commons You may not have heard of it, but the West African country of Mauritania has what is probably one of the most vibrant and active protest movements in the...
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A business idea, revealed
So far, my freelance career went astonishingly well. I got published in a number of places, all of which I read regularly myself and hold in high regard. And Ieven got paid for it! My original fear,...
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World Politics Review: As Crisis Gathers, Northern Mali Needs More Than Just...
Since April, when two Tuareg rebel groups drove government forces out of northern Mali, the situation in the sparsely populated region has steadily worsened. The lightning advance of the National...
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War is Boring: Africa Round Up
DR Congo The eastern Congo is about to enter a new cycle of violence. The rebels of the new organisation “M23” only control a limited area so far, but reportedly get stronger by the day. M23 is the...
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“The roads are wide and well maintained …”
"Well maintained" road in Ouagadougou. My picture. I was incredibly happy to see that the African Arguments blog of the Royal African Society published an article on Burkina Faso today. Well researched...
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World Politics Review: In Ethiopia, Post-Zenawi Void Could Create Opening for...
My latest piece over at World Politics Review on the continuing absence of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi: For 20 years, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has been the undisputed ruler of Ethiopia....
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African Arguments: Blaise Compaoré And The Politics Of Personal Enrichment
I’m extremely happy to have a piece about Burkina Faso/Blaise Compaoré published on the excellent African Arguments blog of the Royal African Society today. The article developed from this earlier rant...
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War is Boring: Africa Round-Up
Mali There hasn’t been much of a change in the overall situation during the last weeks: the northern half of Mali — an area about the size of France — is occupied by a range of rebel groups. While...
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Think Africa Press: How Much Longer Can Compaoré Rule Last?
On October 15, President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso will celebrate his 25th year in power. To spend that much time in office, he had to run coups against two governments. In the first in 1983, he...
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The Central African Republic is erupting into war and other articles
I have some new articles up on the War is Boring collection over at Medium. All revolve around armed conflict in Africa. first one up: The Central African Republic is Erupting Into War Clashes between...
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Why Are African Countries Buying All These High-Tech Jet Fighters?
Africa’s air forces are on a buying spree. Flush with oil cash, many African states are investing heavily in modern multirole jet fighters, deadly helicopter gunship and even sophisticated air-defense...
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Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, the Reformer Despot Who Saved a Nation
The president of Rwanda is either a nation-saving reformer or a despot in disguise—or both. But figuring that out is your problem. Because Paul Kagame doesn’t give a shit what you think of him. Twenty...
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U.S. Special Operations Forces Screwed Up in Mali
The total collapse of the Malian army in the face of a Tuareg rebellion in 2011—and a subsequent coup by junior officers against the democratically-elected government—proves an important point. That...
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South Sudan’s Army Will Make or Break the Country
The ongoing civil war in South Sudan wasn’t started by a fringe rebel group in a far-flung part of the country. It began at the heart of the army, in the barracks of the presidential guard.Can one of...
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Pentagon Gets to Keep Vital African Base — For a Price
You won’t find any foreign locale more important to U.S. security interests than Camp Lemonnier, the sprawling air and sea base in Djibouti, a tiny nation on the Horn of Africa. Djibouti borders...
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The Australian Navy Just Grabbed One Ton of Heroin off the Kenyan Coast
Aussie sailors found 1,032 kilograms of heroin hidden between sacks of cement on a dhow—a slim fishing boat—sailing between Somalia and Kenya. Maybe one the largest heroin seizures ever in Africa, the...
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Terror in Nigeria – World to the Rescue?
I had the great pleasure to be on Deutsche Welle, discussing with fellow guests Zainab Ahmed Mohamed and John Emeka Akude, who are both awesome, about the current situation in Nigeria. Enjoy:
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Sending Commandos to #BringBackOurGirls is a Really Bad Idea
Despite the good intentions, the #BringBackOurGirls campaign has produced a number of stupid ideas and gross misinterpretations. There is singer Chris Brown and the BBC using completely unrelated...
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Somalia Is at Peace—Somalia Is at War
Somalia is the archetypal failed state. A nation that has fractured so completely that for 20 years no central authority was able to control more than a few square kilometers of the capital.For many...
View ArticleNo One Is Winning South Sudan’s Civil War
A great storm is coming to South Sudan, quite literally. Sometime during the next month, the rainy season will start in earnest and render much of the country inaccessible. The rains will bring a...
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