At the African Union’s biannual summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on June 13-15, the principal task was to consolidate the “Africa rising” narrative—the belief that the continent has moved onto a new and more positive political and economic trajectory over the past decade. Two of the principal themes of that narrative are good governance and democratization. While the AU’s formal declarations in this area are encouraging, several developments suggest the gap between AU theory and practice will once again be persistent. Moreover, the very structure of the organization may stand in the way of progress. The summit was overshadowed by [...]
Last week, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who has a warrant out for his arrest by the International Criminal Court, left South Africa without incident, even after South Africa’s High Court ruled that he was to be prevented from leaving. In an email interview, Pierre de Vos, professor of constitutional law at the University of Cape Town, discussed South Africa’s judiciary. WPR: How has South Africa’s judiciary evolved since the end of apartheid, both as an institution and demographically, compared to other government branches, and has it been cleared of all apartheid-era judges? Pierre de Vos: The composition of the South [...]
In late March, Jane’s reported that Angola would soon receive the first batch of Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets as part of an ongoing military modernization program that kicked off four years ago. The modernization program aims to boost the number of troops in service and renew Angola’s military hardware in order to improve the operational capabilities of its armed forces. But when it was launched, resource-rich Angola was awash in oil revenue. The drop in global oil prices since last summer raises questions about the sustainability of Angola’s military modernization, as a growing economic crisis has already forced the [...]
