Will Local Content Policies Help Africa Avoid the Oil Curse?
In recent years, major reserves of oil have been discovered at various locations across Africa. If this ‘black gold’ represents an opportunity for economic growth, the fear that the windfall may not...
View ArticleMissing Pieces: China’s Challenges, Africa’s Mixed Picture, and More
By Isobel Coleman for Council on Foreign Relations. In this week’s installment of Missing Pieces, Charles Landow discusses stories on China and Africa, as well as a report on U.S. international...
View ArticleChina’s Peaceful Return to Africa?
During the 2006 China-Africa summit, which convened officials from 48 African countries, the Chinese government handed out billions of dollars in investment for infrastructure projects and loans, under...
View ArticleA Weak African Union for 53 Member States
Equatoguinean Teodoro President Obiang and African Union Chairman Jean Ping at the African Union Summit in Malabo. Photo from Embassy of Equatorial Guinea 2011 was a tumultuous year for the African...
View ArticleInternational Peacekeeping in Africa: Conference Roundup
On 23-24 November, colleagues from our parent organization, the Center for Security Studies (CSS), hosted a two-day conference entitled International Peacekeeping in Africa: Actors and Missions. The...
View ArticleThe Coming Atlantic Century
PRINCETON – The United States is rising; Europe is stabilizing; and both are moving closer together. That was the principal message earlier this month at the annual Munich Security Conference (MSC), a...
View ArticleLessons from the Malian Crisis for the International Security Architecture
The response to the crisis in Mali has revealed the shortcomings of the multilateral security architecture in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU) and the...
View ArticleMaking the Arms Trade Treaty Work in Practice is the Real Challenge for Africa
An outcome that does not make everyone happy is the hallmark of a successful negotiation process, to paraphrase Australian Ambassador Peter Woolcott, president of the United Nations’ Final Conference...
View ArticleAU and Pan-Africanism: Beyond Rhetoric
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The African Union (AU) has lined up several commemorative celebrations this week with the intention of...
View ArticleAU-ICC Relations Under the Spotlight Again
African solidarity and autonomy were in the spotlight in May when the African Union (AU) celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity, the AU’s predecessor....
View ArticleObama (Finally) Comes to Africa
‘China 1, US 0.’ This is how the United States (US) news website Globalpost titled its comment on US President Barack Obama’s long-awaited trip to Africa. The visit, which also took him to Senegal and...
View ArticleRealising the Dream of Greater Intra-African Trade
How to break the colonial legacy of exporting goods ‘overseas’ and raise the level of trade between African countries? This has been an issue the African Union (AU) has grappled with since it devoted...
View ArticleAgainst the Gospel of ‘Africa Rising’
Almost ten years ago, Binyavanga Wainana mocked the relentless bashing of Africa for what it is: ignorance. Nowadays, however, a new gospel could use similar deriding: “tell them six of the ten fastest...
View ArticleNew Threats in Africa Mean New Questions for UN Peacekeeping: Interview with...
New types of UN peacekeeping brigades could compromise the United Nations’ basic principle of impartiality and put UN personnel, their families, and other organizations at risk, said Major General...
View ArticleAmid Security Concerns, Poaching Moves Up International Agenda
Tied to rising ivory prices, elephant poaching and ivory trafficking has tripled over the last fifteen years, with the rate of increase jumping dramatically from 2009. Profits from illegal wildlife...
View ArticleHow (Not) To Write about African Wars
This article was originally published by the World Policy Institute on 30 September 2014. Even a seasoned follower of political affairs might be excused for struggling to make sense of the seemingly...
View ArticleAfrica Unsure of its Place on World Stage
This article was originally published by the World Policy Blog on 15 October 2014. Last August, over 40 African heads of states and governments traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Obama...
View ArticleLow Oil Prices Could Shake up Africa’s Petro States
This article was originally published on 12 January 2015 by New Security Beat, the blog of the Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) at the Wilson Center. One in five African states produce...
View ArticleAl-Shabaab’s Kenyan Ambitions
This article was originally published by the International Crisis Group on its ‘In Pursuit of Peace’- Blog on 15 April 2015. Why is Al-Shabaab increasingly targeting Kenya? In its statement following...
View ArticlePeace in an Age of Terrorism: Can the AU Achieve Vision 2020?
This article was originally published by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) on 12 June 2015. A Solemn Declaration at the 50th anniversary of the African Union (AU) in 2013 outlined the vision to...
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