Mauritania: Dreaming about the Fall of the Military State
Mauritania has witnessed large protests this year calling for an end to the military regime of General Ould Abdel Aziz (for a useful though slightly out of date overview, see @LISSNUP’s discussion of...
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Africa as a Mirror of Democratization
The Fespaco Film FestivalSource: Isabel Mendes Africa as Subject v. Africa as Object Too often, academic approaches to the subject of democracy in Africa confine themselves to static and quantitative...
View ArticlePuntland, Multi-Party Politics, and its Place in Somalia
While the world was rightly fixated on the new President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s election, al-Shaabab’s attempt at his assassination, and his inauguration over the last few weeks, another...
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2012 Somaliland Elections: Internal Gains but External Obstacles to Statehood
Somaliland’s Independent Aspirations Source: Photographer Charles Roffey Today, Somaliland votes. In their fifth election since 2002, the self-declared independent Republic of Somaliland will decide...
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Making the Link: Rwanda’s Domestic Policies and Interests Abroad
High-level Event on Democratic Republic of CongoUN Photo/Eskinder Debebe Lately, Rwanda has received considerable media attention for its role in the M23 crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo...
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A History of Resistance in the Congo
In light of the recent escalation of violence in the Kivus, the emergence of M23 rebellion, and the ongoing negotiations in Kampala, we thought it important to place the latest cycle of conflict in the...
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The Language of the Political Crowd in Tunisia
“The solidity of the images was theexpression of their permanence.” Elias Canetti Language is critical to the ability to mobilize. The group feeling that was activated in the urban hubs of North Africa...
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Urban Protests and Rural Violence in Africa: A Call for an Integrated Approach
2010 protests outside University of Zalingei, West Darfur.UN photo: Albert Gonzalez Farran African countries appear to be in the midst of an epic shift in the nature of their political struggles. The...
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New Media in Africa and the Global Public Sphere
#OccupyNigeria and Social Media in Lagos Source: Celebregion.com (cc) In analyzing the relationship between a “global public sphere” and social media on the African continent, the...
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Not Even the Sky Limits Pro-Democracy Activists in Egypt
Morsi to the Moon? Source: The European Union (EEAS) While the much anticipated time frame for parliamentary elections in Egypt has been set for 27 April 2013, frustration...
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Kenya’s Jubilee Election: What Next?
Kenya’s eager voters are now eager for change.Copyright: Commonwealth Secretariat This year, Kenya celebrates fifty years of independence. In the life of nations and states, Kenya is young. Its new...
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Amnesty for Boko Haram: Lessons from the Past
Boko Haram, a cause of concern for Pres. Jonathan©Annaliese McDonough/Commonwealth Secretariat On April 24, 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria inaugurated the “Committee on Dialogue and...
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Museveni and the Monitor: Succession Politics in Print
Uganda’s Partly Free PressBy Rachel Strohm via Flickr© Creative Commons On May 28, 2013, the ninth day since the headquarters of the Ugandan newspaper Daily Monitor was closed,[1] the standoff was...
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Women and the 2013 Zimbabwe Elections: A Voice from the Field
Editors’ Note: This digest, written by Ashley Rudo Chisamba, an Information and Membership Officer with the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe provides a local perspective and voice from the field on the...
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Popular Mobilization and the New Politics of Resource Sovereignty in Tanzania
The Roads of Mtwara, Tanzania (2005)Source: Marja-Leena Kultanen (Global.finland.fi) (cc) Creative Commons from Flickr In 1972, a resident of Tanzania’s impoverished southeastern region of Mtwara...
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Human Rights, Development, and Democracy in Africa: What Role for the Arts?
Can the arts make the difference?Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Polandvia Flickr (Creative Commons CC) In the past 10 to 15 years, a number of African countries have seen sustained and high...
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Social Protest, an African Perennial
“Y en a Marre” protests in Paris, Sept 2011Source: Gwenaël Piaser via Flickr Early one morning in March 2013, residents of Bujagali in eastern Uganda, upset by the deplorable state of the road through...
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Making Sense of the Protests in Khartoum
Protests in Khartoum, September 2013Source: Anonymous In the ten days following September 23, Sudanese cities witnessed the largest anti-government protests in many years. Many of the protesters aimed...
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La Démocratie de l’Angoisse: l’Afrique de l’Ouest et ses Six Élections...
Voting in 2012 legislative by-electionsin Grand Laho, Côte d′Ivoire(Photo: UN/Hien Macline) Cette contribution est la première d’un essai en deux parties par le Dr. Gilles Olakounlé Yabi sur...
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Anxieties of West African Democracy: Six Presidential Elections in 2014-2015
Voting in legislative 2012 by-electionsin Grand Laho, Côte d′Ivoire(Photo: UN/Hien Macline) This contribution is the first of a two-part essay by Dr. Gilles Olakounlé Yabi on the anxious environment in...
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