Make Sense of the world
Unique insight from 2,000+ contributors in 80+ Countries
The novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, continues to threaten the health and lives of large numbers of people throughout the world. It has also wrought havoc on social and economic activity, most notably in high-income countries in Asia and the West. It has also captured the attention of the...
As General Khalifa Haftar’s troops continue to battle the UN-recognized Government of National Accord for the control of Libya’s capital Tripoli in a “final push,” it is evident things might get worse than they already are for the country that has been engulfed in conflict since 2011....
What happens when Westerners discover and acknowledge a series of identifiable facts? According to Western logic, that body of knowledge puts them in a position to create the tools that will enable them to solve problems. Those tools fall into two broad categories: methods and technology. The...
On December 24, 2019, The New York Times reported that Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper is weighing proposals for a major reduction — or even a complete pullout — of US forces from West Africa. This is the first phase of reviewing deployments that could reshuffle thousands of troops worldwide...
My Kenyan friends have long asked me to write on their country. After much hesitation, I am penning my impressions. At the outset, readers must know that I am no expert on Kenya. So, they must take everything I write with a fistful if not a pinch of salt. The most striking impression I have of...
Few things unite Nigerians like the numerous stories of sexual abuse, intrenched in tradition and scattered across tribes and cultures, and perpetrated mostly against women. So endemic is this culture of sexual violence against women that it is woven into the very fabric of our existence. It cuts...
Despite having a technocratic president in Cyril Ramaphosa, are the structural underpinnings of the economy so weak that South Africa’s future is endangered? Allied to weak economic foundations are the questions of corruption and extremely poor public administration. The mismanagement at both...
In 2006, long before hashtags, Tarana Burke began a grassroots “me too” movement to try and reach women and girl survivors of sexual assault, particularly women of color in low wealth communities. In 2017, actor Alyssa Milano used “me too” as a hashtag, and it went viral. While much has...
In 2018, the President of the United States Donald Trump posted a rather enigmatic tweet about“farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers” by the South African government. What initially seemed puzzling was soon everywhere. A few days later, during the former UK...
Malawi is one of the most impoverished nations on the planet. It is experiencing what officials describe as a “population explosion” in a society with inadequate resources. As of 2018, Malawi is the third poorest country in the world with a GDP per capita of only $342, according to the...
The United Nations was not even three years old when it launched its first peacekeeping mission in 1948. For the last 70 years, it has been continuously involved in such operations, often with mixed results. Over this time, peacekeeping and the wars to which it has been applied have changed. The...
