Guinea Bissau has suffered an apparently endless cycle of assassinations and coups. But the problems of the tiny West African country seemed attractively manageable – a small but vociferous military; a corrupt political class; a desperately poor population. The sights of the international community's (proxy) big guns [...]
Southern Sudan is set for independence. Baring some unforeseen upset, it will join the community of nations in July 2011 as the 154th country in the world. It faces a number of severe challenges, but one thing it has in abundance – water. Or does it? [...]
Southern Sudan today begins the process of formally separating from the North. Voting in the referendum begins today and will continue for some time. Voters are almost certain to vote for eventual independence, likely to be in July 2011. At that point Southern Sudan will bring the [...]
In amongst all the hullabaloo over future funding for the UK military, we have learnt that the UK estimates – probably rightly – that there are a number of “Tier 1” threats to the UK’s security. One of these threats is the possibility of conventional warfare with [...]
South Africa has just been elected to serve a second two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. This is a welcome development, and provides South Africa – and the Continent – with another opportunity to demonstrate Africa’s capacity to take part in global [...]
Whilst his fellow members of the clergy worry about the day-to-day niceties of ecclesiastical life, such as the prospect of female or gay bishops in the Church of England, Archbishop Rowan Williams is distracting himself with smaller issues in far off places. Sharing a platform with the [...]
What’s going on in Zimbabwe? The war of words between ZANU and its opponents seems to be increasing in intensity. Since re-discovering his backbone, Tsvangari seems to be determined to land more and more punches on ZANU and Mugabe. Perhaps he thinks that it is best to [...]
Thabo Mbeki, former President of South Africa, wants to resurrect – phoenix like – the African Renaissance, the precursor to the New Partnership for African Development or NEPAD. And there is nothing wrong with his ambition to help realise the aspirations of Africans. The problem [...]
Two reports on the BBC recently suggest that in their own way the various military operations working on Somalia are having an effect. EU NAVFOR expects the next piracy season to be a difficult one, but they believe that it is generally getting harder for pirates to [...]
Perhaps flushed with pride at the country’s recent appearance in the pages of a Frederick Forsyth novel, Guinea Bissau fact continues to emulate fiction. According to Reuters, Bubo Na Tchuto has been re-appointed as the country’s new Navy head. This despite his alleged role in an earlier [...]