Africa
Africa
Fair Observer provides insightful and informed analysis of important issues, events and trends on the African continent.
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Arab Spring / Arab Uprisings / MENA / Unemployment / Youth / Finance & Economics / Focus Article / Global Change / Middle East / AfricaJobs and meaningful employment are demands highlighted by the Arab Uprisings that will not go away. Governments are struggling to recast technical and vocational training programs into effective vehicles for preparing market-ready youth. It is no coincidence that when the World Economic Forum was focusing on youth under-employment/unemployment at its annual conference in Davos, the Audit Court (Cours des Comptes) in Morocco was issuing a report criticizing the quality of the country’s vocational training system. There is a great deal of concern globally with devising effective mechanisms for meeting youth employment needs, and Jamie McAuliffe, president of Education for Employment...
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360° Analysis / Egypt / Islam / Islamism / Politics / Salaf / Salafism / Middle East / AfricaBy Omar FarahatOmar Farahat examines the origins of Salafis, and argues that the question of shari’a has to be resolved before Egypt can witness any kind of durable stability. The following is an executive summary from the essay, originally featured in the Arches Quarterly. Prior to the outbreak of the popular revolution against Mubarak’s regime in January and February of 2011, and the subsequent developments, talk within political and intellectual circles about Islamist presence and potential in Egyptian politics was almost exclusively centered on the Muslim Brotherhood. After all, it was the Brotherhood that consistently competed for parliamentary seats, organized massive student protests,...
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Kenya has gone to the polls, but the the new president's victory is contested and might affect relations with the US. Kenya's election commission on Saturday announced that last week the deeply ethnically divided nation had elected Uhuru Kenyatta to be the new president by a narrow margin. Everyone's mind is focus on the fear of new violence similar to what happened after the December 27, 2007, elections, when inter-ethnic killings, rapes and amputations triggered by dissatisfaction with election results killed thousands of people. In his acceptance speech, Kenyatta said: "I would especially like to acknowledge the Kenyans who lost their lives on the eve of the elections....
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360° Analysis / Arab Spring / constitution / Egypt / Mohammed Morsi / Muslim Brotherhood / National Salvation Front / Politics / Middle East / AfricaThe Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is being heavily criticized. However, the complicated situation in Egypt urges the observer to take a closer look. Stephan Roll scrutinizes the five most important points of criticism. First: Morsi Placed Himself Above the Law Last November, Mohammed Morsi placed himself above the law via a decree, and thereby stopped a foreseeable interference by the judiciary into the process of drafting the constitution. This procedure has been sharply criticized by the Egyptian opposition as well as foreign countries. The president was accused of having violated the basic principles of democracy by rescinding the separation of powers. However, this...
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360° Analysis / Afghanistan / Ansar Dine / AQIM / Iraq / Libya / Mali / MOJWA / Africa / Global SecurityThe fear that Mali could turn into another Afghanistan is unwarranted. Just last month concern was mounting that stiff Islamist resistance in Mali, combined with the alleged presence of heavy or sophisticated equipment in the rebel arsenal, would lead to a protracted and difficult campaign. Even though the majority of the country has been retaken, and heavy losses have been inflicted on the Islamist coalition, this fear persists. Some still cling to panicked comparisons to Iraq or Afghanistan. This is unwarranted. The anxiety caused by the realization that Islamist fighters planned on holding the line and engaging in street fighting was entirely misplaced and their capabilities...
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360° Analysis / Politics / United States / Europe / Arts & Culture / Middle East / Americas / Africa / AsiaBy Hannah StormEach week, at least two journalists die doing their job somewhere in the world. Hannah Storm, of the International News Safety Institute, discusses the dangers of the profession. In the first 20 days of this year, at least 10 journalists and media workers were killed doing their jobs. These 10 people weren’t household names, famous journalists whose deaths – like those of Marie Colvin and Tim Hetherington – generated column inches and inspired a collective call for better safety standards for media around the world. And yet, every one of these 10 deaths tells the story of a life unjustly cut short as one person tried to shine a light into the darkest corners of...
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Politics / United States / Europe / 360° Context / Arts & Culture / Middle East / Americas / Africa / AsiaAs more and more journalists are being targeted for their professional activity, the concepts of media freedom and journalist safety deserve a closer look — from the relative comfort of Europe to the killing fields of Syria and beyond. Background When Judge Gurfein ruled in favour of the New York Times for its right to publish the Pentagon Papers, he concluded that “a cantankerous press, an obstinate press, a ubiquitous press must be suffered by those in authority in order to preserve the even greater values of freedom of expression and the right of the people to know”. Indeed, the notion of uninhibited media is so engrained in our perception of democracy, that it carries...
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360° Analysis / Arab Spring / Egypt / Islamism / Islamist / Morocco / Politics / Tunisia / Middle East / AfricaBy George JofféThe following is an extract from George Joffé’s essay, “The Arab Intifada in Perspective,” as he discusses the role of Islamist parties in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. To appreciate what has actually happened in the Arab world as a result of what in the West is called the “Arab Spring” but is referred to as the “Arab Intifada” in the Middle East and North Africa, and what is likely to take place there, we should perhaps note that the actual outcomes of the events of 2011 have much to do with their specific causes, both in regional and national terms. The events of 2011 have made it quite clear that, whether a paradigm shift or not, the...
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Daniel arap Moi / Elections / Forum for the Restoration of Democracy / Kanu / Kenya / Politics / 360° Context / AfricaFor the first time after the violence that followed 2007 elections, Kenyans are about to cast their vote again. Background Kenya, officially named the Republic of Kenya, is a country on the East Coast of Africa that is roughly twice the size of the United Kingdom.. Kenya has a long colonial history beginning in 1885 when Germany took possession of the coastal lands. However, it handed over its Kenyan holdings to the United Kingdom in 1890. Kenya remained a British colony until December 12, 1963. The Kenyan African National Union (Kanu) took control of the country and on December 12, 1964, exactly a year later, the Kanu formed the Republic of Kenya and Jomo Kenyatta became the first...
