Strategic Thinking on East Africa

The strathink editorial team could not resist posting this story about young people in Ethiopia taking up the sport of skateboarding. While children in Eritrea are risking their lives to flee Eritrea’s oppressive indefinite national service, young people in Ethiopia are enjoying their youth. From BBC Ethiopia’s young skateboarders, who find it hard to get […]

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African Union says armed group is hoping to stage attacks disguised as AMISOM troops, using uniforms it took from them. Hamza Mohamed | The African Union said the uniforms were taken from its army camps [File: AP] The African Union (AU) says the al-Qaeda-linked armed group, al-Shabab, is planning attacks in Somalia using AU troop uniforms […]

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  In Summary The Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) bill, passed by parliament on Wednesday, means no more than a fifth of aid workers can be from abroad, a level many aid workers believe is simply not viable. Aid agencies already employ large numbers of South Sudanese — often far higher than the 80 per cent level […]

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From BBC Image copyrightAP Image captionNo official figures have been released about the number of troops killed Kenyan forces have pulled out from two military bases in Somalia, including one attacked by militant Islamist group al-Shabab, residents have told the BBC. Al-Shabab fighters have seized the southern town of Badhadhe after the troops retreated, a […]

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By The Strathink Editorial Team They came to the United States and Europe in the late 1970s and 1980’s. Many settled in and around Washington, D.C. Some went on to college, finishing the education they began in Ethiopia during the early and mid-1970s until politics replaced academics. Others bought taxicabs, started small businesses and took […]

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From African Arguments Posted on November 19, 2015 by Hafiz Ismail Mohamed SPLM-North’s insistence on negotiating with the government about national issues only – rather than giving priority to South Kordofan and Blue Nile – is hurting the people of the Two Areas. Nuba Refugees Refugees from the Nuba mountains. Photo credit: Tom Albinson. After […]

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By Yemane Negash, Reporter Recent reports show that Eritrea is officially involved in the Yemeni crisis allowing the Saudi-led Arab coalition to use its Assab port, airspace and territorial waters in fighting the Houthi rebels. A high official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, who wants to remain anonymous, told The Reporter that […]

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Europe’s Refugee Crisis The European Union (E.U.) is struggling to respond to the recent surge of refugees from Syria, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Albania, Iraq, Pakistan, Eritrea, Serbia, Ukraine and Nigeria. [1] War, poverty and repressive conditions are the three biggest drivers of migration for the people risking their lives to flee the inhospitable conditions at home. […]

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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 […]

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Normalizing Relations Between Eritrea and the United States: Farsightedness or Foolishness? By Guest Editor “Bringing in Eritrea from the Cold” Almost one year ago, Ambassador Herman Cohen, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, wrote an article advocating “bringing Eritrea in from the cold.”[1] What does that mean? It means, according to Ambassador […]

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