Historical comparisons with contemporary events are always risky, particularly with regard to warfare. But two historical patterns in the use of mercenaries in Europe can provide insights into the role that private military contractors like the Wagner Group play within the Russian political system, and how that might evolve over time.
During U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recent visit to the African continent, he unveiled a strategy document framing Washington’s new approach to relations with Africans. But the lofty ambition expressed in the document is unlikely to be realized, due to contradictions between Washington’s words and actions.
Voters in Angola cast ballots on Wednesday to give President Joao Lourenco and his ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola, or MPLA, another five-year mandate in office. But the MPLA’s dwindling share of the electorate points to trends that may spell trouble for its fortunes going forward.
Last week, Kigali played host to the second Kigali Global Dialogue, which brought together more than 150 people from 45 countries to ponder solutions to critical issues the world faces. For countries in the Global South, the conference sought to ponder how they can navigate development challenges amid great-power competition.
William Ruto was declared the victor in Kenya’s presidential election, which drew wide attention across the continent. His immediate task is to reunite the country after a long, divisive campaign, as national cohesion will key to tackling the country’s policy challenges and improving the quality of its political institutions.
In March, environmentalists launched an unprecedented legal case charging French oil giant TotalEnergies with greenwashing. Despite marketing itself as a green company, TotalEnergies has invested heavily in the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, or EACOP, an infamous project in Uganda that’s come to symbolize Western hypocrisy.
Because the Wagner Group has such an established reputation, many took claims made earlier this year that the group would deploy to Burkina Faso at face value. However, rumors about Wagner rarely square with reality. The actual evidence that the group will imminently deploy to Burkina Faso is far from conclusive.
Antony Blinken was in Africa this week for a three-country tour, where he unveiled the Biden administration’s new approach for deepening ties with African nations. The strategy seems to hit all the right notes. But to implement it, the U.S. will have to break long-established habits in its relations with the continent.
In these early days of the global monkeypox outbreak, it appears as though we have failed to take any lessons from earlier disease outbreaks, including the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. This apparent inability or unwillingness to learn is startling, and runs the risk of weakening global health governance.
The outcome of Senegal’s legislative elections, in which President Macky Sall’s coalition lost its majority, potentially curb Sall’s rumored ambitions for a constitutionally prohibited third term. But the runup to the polls put the spotlight on the state of democracy in a West African country regarded as a regional outlier.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is using his visit to Africa to unveil Washington’s new approach to relations with the continent. That approach will be hampered by Washington’s deafness to long-standing complaints on a range of issues from many African countries, and its blindness to its own hypocrisy toward the continent.
At least 32 people were killed in a July 29 attack by suspected cattle thieves in a village approximately 47 miles north of Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital. While the country’s president has vowed to bring the killers to justice, the roots of Madagascar’s cattle theft problem date back decades and defy obvious solutions.
For the eighth time in 11 years, voters have been called to the ballot box to weigh in on Tunisia’s future. Over the past decade, Tunisians have chosen new presidents, fresh parliaments and local representatives in peaceful elections. But last week’s referendum, which approved a new constitution, may bring an end to that civic process.
Last week, a dozen years after the start of the Arab Spring, Tunisia held a referendum that sealed the fate of its democratic experiment. The vote confirmed that the euphoria of those heady days—the ardent belief that change was on the horizon—was not enough to overcome the obstacles to democratization.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who is set to leave office next year after having served two terms, recently declared that he will leave the country “in a better place” than he found it. But his claim is at odds with the situation across the country, including a deepening insecurity that now grips Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.