Strategic Thinking on East Africa

Council on Foreign Relations by John Campbell and Guest Blogger for John Campbell December 30, 2015 Boys play on the roof of the entrance to a football stadium in Gao February 20, 2013. (Reuters/Joe Penney) While western governments are currently transfixed on events in Iraq and Syria, it is important that they do not forget Africa. Boko Haram […]

Read the full story

From African Arguments Posted on December 23, 2015 by Lucy Hovil The African Union and UN appear to have found a new sense of urgency, but Burundi’s current crisis will only be resolved if it is seen as part of a longer legacy. Olivier* was studying at the University of Burundi in April 2015 when unrest began to […]

Read the full story

Nairobi (AFP) - Burundi’s government on Tuesday rejected a proposed African Union peacekeeping mission already dubbed an “invasion force” by parliament. Lawmakers on Monday rejected the planned AU force proposed last week amid growing international alarm over spiralling violence in the tiny central African nation. On Tuesday, the National Security Council (NSC) — including the […]

Read the full story

International Crisis Group IPI Global Observatory | Burundi is back in the spotlight of the world’s media and the agenda of the United Nations Security Council. As recently as two years ago, the country was considered a success story in peacebuilding circles, but now the news is firmly of a negative variety. The UN is trying to prevent […]

Read the full story

  BY ELOGE WILLY KANEZA AND IGNATIUS SSUUNA Associated Press At least four people were killed in overnight violence in the Burundi capital, the police said Sunday as sporadic gunfire and loud explosions continued to echo across the city. A local human rights activist, however, said up to seven dead bodies had been discovered and […]

Read the full story

Rights organizations are concerned the small African nation, which saw a decade-long war end in 2005, is on the brink of another major conflict. Women leaving Burundi in April. (Photo: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters) Samantha Cowan is an associate editor and helms TakePart’s weekend coverage. Families are leaving their homes in the Central African nation of Burundi […]

Read the full story

By AFP Rwandan President Paul Kagame has accused Burundi’s leaders of carrying out “massacres” on their people in his most critical speech yet of the crisis in the troubled neighbouring state. “People die every day, corpses litter the streets… How can the leaders allow their population to be massacred from morning to night?” Kagame said, […]

Read the full story

by Andrea Purdeková The government’s use of repression over dialogue has put the country and region’s stability at risk. In one of the latest bouts of violence in Burundi last week, at least three people died in Bujumbura as police battled with gunmen who reportedly threw grenades and fired machineguns. This encounter was one of the more recent […]

Read the full story

By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The president of Burundi’s five-day ultimatum for people to hand over illegal firearms or be treated as enemies of the state may spark extensive bloodshed in the coming days, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said on Thursday. “The United States is alarmed by the […]

Read the full story

Is Rwanda choosing impunity over international justice? Louise Mushikiwabo is this week’s guest on Conflict Zone, DW’s top political talk show. Louise Mushikiwabo on Conflict Zone The Foreign Minister of Rwanda accused the International Criminal Court (ICC) of having a racial bias and of being little more than a tool for Western countries “to manipulate […]

Read the full story