Category: Africa
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America Played a Big Role in Sudan’s Coup
By Patrick Fox // In a bid to create a regional ally during the Cold War, the US provided $1.4 billion in arms to Sudan between 1977 and 1985. This was the single largest commitment of American military resources to Sub-Saharan Africa.
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What’s Happening in Ethiopia?
By David Islay // The UN estimates that 7 million people in Tigray require urgent assistance because of food insecurity. Both sides have committed massacres, but the government has likely killed far more. Though Abiy Ahmed is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, his forces continue to commit heinous war crimes against Tigray’s civilian…
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A Tale of Two Tragedies: Why Is Cuba More Important than Ethiopia?
By Brad Settelmeyer // US policy can be counterintuitive: while politicians might have caring words for the Cuban people, they have taken significantly more action on the situation in Tigray. Although executive offices addressed both international crises, the Cuban riots seemed to elicit a strong public response and the Ethiopian crisis a more diplomatic one.
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Populism and Profit: Guinea’s Coup
By Patrick Fox // Even with all of the brutality of his ten year regime, President Conde’s only real policy change was an economic shift away from France and toward China. As a result, this recent military coup holds an eerie similarity to many decades of French intervention in its former African colonies.
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One Belt, One Road, Many Misconceptions
By Alison O’Neil and Andrew Jarocki
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What Medieval East Africa Can Teach Us About Realism
Old Dobgola Kingdom of Makuria, Throne hall. Author: Hans Nilsen By: Matthew Petti In 625 AD, two armies met along the Nile. Muslim warriors led by Abdullah ibn Saad ibn Abi-Sarh marched south from Egypt towards Dongola, the capital of the Christian kingdom of Makuria, which ruled over Nubia in modern-day Sudan. But the…
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China’s Military Base in Djibouti: The First of Many?
Image: Natalie Wu By John Park China’s military and economic activity in East Africa display capabilities of a great power but also suggest greater ambitions for hegemony. When China opened its first military base in Djibouti, this was a significant shift from decades of noninterventionist Chinese foreign policy established by Deng Xiaoping’s “24-Character Strategy.” Djibouti’s…
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Kenya and China’s One Belt One Road
Images and Text by Austin Rose In the coming weeks, the White House will take the battle to renovate and upgrade the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to the Senate. The newly empowered entity, renamed the International Development Finance Corporation (IDFC), would go toe to toe with the many tendrils of China’s economic foreign policy…
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Remembering Rwanda: How Rwanda Instituted Post-Genocide Reconciliation
By Caroline Caywood With the arrival of spring comes a season of change and renewal for the world and its populations. But with this transitional period also comes the anniversary of one of the greatest humanitarian crises of the 20th century. April 7 has been set aside as a day of memorial for the Rwandan…