Africa
Africa
Fair Observer provides insightful and informed analysis of important issues, events and trends on the African continent.
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360° Analysis / Etienne De Poncins / Independence / International Criminal Court / Johnnie Carson / Jubilee Coalition / Kenya / Musalia Mudavadi / Politics / Raila Odinga / Uhuru Kenyatta / Africa50 years after independence, Kenyans go to the ballot on March 4, 2013 to elect a new leadership under a new constitutional order. The country seeks to make a clean break from the challenges and failures of its past. The governance institutional structure will be unlike any the country has had. History repeats itself, first as miscarried naïve aspiration, next as opportunity for seasoned requital. On Monday, March 4, 2013, Kenya has a rendezvous with destiny. It heads into its first national poll since the bungled general election at the sunset of 2007. Five years on, the hope is to exorcise the poltergeists of one of the saddest chapters of the country’s short history. Of new...
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China / Chomsky / Freud / Japan / Laos / North Korea / Politics / United States / Europe / Focus Article / BRIC / Arts & Culture / Middle East / Americas / Africa / Asia / OceaniaFair Observer's five best articles of February. By February, the new year loses its newness and 2013 is no exception. While all of us have settled into 2013, the world continues to be as eventful as ever. Italy has had yet another election. Kerry is off on his first foreign trip as Secretary of State. Karzai is asking the US to curtail its role, and the conflict in Syria shows no signs of resolution. The world economy is wobbly with the Eurozone in deepest distress. At Fair Observer, we try our best to make sense of the world and please find our best articles for February below. As always, we want to know what you think and please email us at info@fairobserver.com to tell us how we can...
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Arab Spring / Arab Uprisings / Egypt / En-Nahda / Islamism / Islamist / Muslim Brotherhood / Politics / Tunisia / 360° Context / Middle East / AfricaA brief look at the interplay of Islam and political thought at a time when Islamist movements are gaining unprecedented access to the highest levels of power. Background The history of Islam and politics encompasses a wide variety of thinkers and political ideas. It is pivotal to understand the historical context in order to comprehend the rise of Islamist movements in the Middle East and North Africa. Modern Islamist political thought was in part rooted in the rejection of European encroachment into the Muslim world, as for example Jamal al-Din al-Afghani's work demonstrates. Al-Afghani, reportedly of Persian and Shi'a origin, promoted pan-Islamic unity while being a staunch...
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360° Analysis / Cairo / constitution / Egypt / Egyptian / Politics / Middle East / AfricaBy Will LynchWill Lynch reflects on his recent trip to Egypt, and argues that it is time for Egyptians to realize the world will come back to them when they put down the stones and pick up their ballots. During December’s constitutional referendum in Egypt, I was among the relative handful of tourists seeing the sites there. While I was there as a tourist, the anger magnified by the television camera lenses over the draft constitution had made Egypt seem like a very dangerous place to most other westerners. We met almost no other American tourists and only a few Europeans. The tourist trade in Cairo was being kept alive on life support by Chinese and Indian tour groups. We on the outside, who feed...
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360° Analysis / Chokri Belaid / Politics / Revolution / Tunisia / Middle East / AfricaRegardless of their views on the An-Nahda led-government, most Tunisians agree on one thing: that the country is experiencing a counter-revolutionary moment. The tragic assassination of leftist politician and human rights defender Chokri Belaid in Tunis is one of a series of incidents of political violence to hit the country in recent months. Belaid’s assassination has left the nation reeling, and the political scene more polarized than ever. With a general strike recently called by the country's largest labour union, ongoing protests across the country, including one organised by the ruling An-Nahda party, and calls for the military, which already has looming presence in post-...
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360° Analysis / Algeria / France / intervention / Mali / Politics / UN resolution / AfricaThis article is the final of a three-part series featuring different perspectives on the recent developments in Mali. Broad political consensus in the domestic political sphere, support from the international community, and the urgency of the situation due to the rapid advance of Islamist militias—together, at first glance, these factors seem to justify French military intervention in Mali. Behind the alleged legitimacy of "Operation Serval,” however, France’s role is ridden with gray areas and contradictions due to the inconsistency of objectives and the potentially disastrous consequences for the entire Sahel zone as a result of such military engagement. The Malian...
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360° Analysis / Arab Uprising / economy / Iraq / MENA / Noam Chomsky / Politics / United States / Middle East / AfricaBy Noam Chomsky[Note: This piece is adapted from “Uprisings,” a chapter in Power Systems: Conversations on Global Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to US Empire, Noam Chomsky’s new interview book with David Barsamian (with thanks to the publisher, Metropolitan Books). The questions are Barsamian’s, the answers Chomsky’s.] Does the United States still have the same level of control over the energy resources of the Middle East as it once had? The major energy-producing countries are still firmly under the control of the Western-backed dictatorships. So, actually, the progress made by the Arab Spring is limited, but it’s not insignificant. The...
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360° Analysis / France / Francois Hollande / intervention / Libya / Mali / Politics / AfricaBy Hakim AddadThis article is the second of a three-part series featuring different perspectives on the recent developments in Mali. "...This conflict is legitimate and vital to the security of the French. We can not expect to maintain our lifestyles and our prosperity if we do not go outside our country to participate in the stabilization and resolution of crises, eradicating threats that could inevitably threaten us from within our national territory.” French General and former director of the College of Defense (CID) Vincent Desportes, spoke these words while answering questions from readers on the website of Le Monde newspaper. Francois Hollande, the “socialist” President...
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360° Analysis / Arab Spring / Arab Uprisings / Book / Politics / Middle East / AfricaThe following is the last of a series of excerpts that Fair Observer will be featuring from its first book, The Arab Uprisings: An Introduction. Read the first excerpt here. As the Arab Uprisings enter their third year, the face of the region, marred by political and economic decay, is slowly changing. What is most surprising about the revolts is that the protests had no leaders, no real agenda other than the overthrow of the existing regimes, and only a vague aspiration for economic and political reform. “Mobilization and communication took place in diverse ways through the Internet and cell phones, not through political manifestos.” The ultimate success of the Arab Uprisings...