Strategic Thinking on East Africa

by the Strathink Editorial Team Part 2 of our series on the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi looks at conversations with American diplomats on events following the 2005 election.   Prime Minster Meles is displaying a kind of respectful defiance of the international community as he builds Ethiopia democracy—his way. U.S. Ambassador Donald Yamamoto To […]

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OPINION By Hagos Abraha It is not unusual for the Eritrea regime to repeat its make believe claims regarding Ethiopia and the region in general. However, it not always we find respected institutions engaged in such intellectually bankrupt propaganda. Sadly, that was the case with the recent article published by the Nordic Africa Institute. We […]

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BY LAURA SECORUN PALETAPR 172016 ACUMEN Every day all over the world, people cross borders in search of a better life. But you know things are truly bad back home when you need to seek refuge in Sudan. That’s precisely what more than 125,530 people have done — and the United Nations High Commissioner […]

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From Chatham House Adjoa Anyimadu Research Associate, Africa Programme Tanzania’s leaders will need to increasingly rely on astute policy-making to maintain the country’s unique position in a region with numerous powerful national leaders, writes Adjoa Anyimadu. Magogoni ferry arrives at city full of commuters, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Photo: Charles Bowman/Getty Images. Summary Despite its long-standing […]

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World This is a critical year for the troubled African nation. Charlotte Alfred REUTERS/TOBIN JONES/AU-UN IST PHOTO/HANDOUT A Somali soldier patrols a town captured from al Shabab. The Islamist militant group is trying to disrupt Somalia’s political transition in 2016. Every week, The WorldPost asks an expert to shed light on a topic driving headlines around […]

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From Brookings Institution Editors’ Note: Al-Shabab’s operational capacities and intimidation power have grown in the past year, writes Vanda Felbab-Brown. Many of Kenya’s counterterrorism policies have been counterproductive, and counterinsurgency efforts by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) have at best stagnated. This piece was originally published by The Cipher Brief. April 2 marked one […]

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People demonstrate in Bujumbura against a decision by Burundi’s ruling party to nominate President Pierre Nkurunziza to run for a third term (April 2015). Photo: Desire Nimubona/IRIN 22 March 2016 – A climate for inclusive dialogue is urgently required to eradicate the polarization and fragmentation of Burundian society, resulting from the increasing poverty and ongoing political […]

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From Chatham House Ben Shepherd Consulting Fellow, Africa Programme Given voters’ lack of options, Yoweri Museveni can command real support, but his style of politics cannot survive the country’s coming demographic change. A woman walks past a Ugandan soldier and election posters in Kampala on 19 February 2016. Photo by Getty Images. Uganda’s election results […]

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South African leader says Burundi agreed to allow pan-African body to send human rights and military monitors. Burundi’s leader Pierre Nkurunziza triggered the crisis when he announced a bid for a third term [Evrard Ngendakumana/Reuters] The African Union (AU) will send 200 human rights and military monitors to Burundi, South Africa’s president said, after a […]

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Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza and opposition politicians have agreed to hold talks to end a 10-month-old crisis, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. After meeting with Nkurunziza and opposition politicians, Ban said on Tuesday that all sides had agreed to “inclusive dialogue” and that the president “confirmed that he would engage in political dialogue. “Burundi’s political […]

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