/ Africa

• As the Syrian Crisis Deepens Will Russia Step in Before the UN?

  The events of the past five days in Syria may be a game changer, both domestically and internationally. Last Thursday, opposition forces said, 100 people were killed. Massacres were alleged in two towns. The daily death toll has been rising. On yesterday, Monday, AFP reported another 29 persons killed, including 23 civilians and 6 members of the security forces. Troops moved into the rebel-held town of Rankus north of Damascus, after besieging and shelling it for days. Rebels blew up a gas pipeline. Rebel troops, made up of deserters, ambushed a minivan carrying 6 regime military personnel on their way…

• Can South Sudan Ever Escape from Violence and Chaos?

  There’s bad news and then there’s South Sudan, the world’s newest state. Less than six months after peacefully seceding from Sudan in the wake of an internally supervised plebiscite, South Sudan, potentially one of Africa’s richest petro-states, is descending into rising tribal violence.  The interethnic clashes have killed more than 3,000 and displaced thousands in South Sudan’s Jonglei State, with the UN reporting that tens of thousands of people displaced by the violence are in urgent need of food, water, health care and shelter. But not to worry, Washington is now engaged, sending… Food? Water? Health care? Shelter? No, on 10 January the Pentagon said that…

• China's Oil Diplomacy a First

  China’s diplomatic efforts have traditionally been modes in the extreme, supporting unilateral engagement to solve thorny issues. No more. In a first, Beijing is inserting itself into resolving a festering diplomatic issue involving two countries at economic and political loggerheads. The unitary issue? Well, energy exports, of course – specifically, oil. Boldly going where other nations fear to tread, in a diplomatic first, Beijing is attempting to mediate between Sudan and the state carved out last July from its southern provinces, South Sudan. Earlier this month China's Foreign Ministry publicly asked Sudan and South Sudan to resolve their oil transit issues through "friendly consultations." South Sudan's Minister…

• Sudan's Never-Ending Agony

  On 9 July, the world’s newest nation emerged from the state of Sudan, when South Sudan achieved formal independence. Five months later, the new nation’s fragility is obvious to all, as aircraft dispatched by Khartoum's Sudan Armed Forces have bombed targets in South Sudan. The planes targeted Yida, which currently houses more than 23,000 registered refugees. The development continues the bloody history of Sudan, quite aside from the ongoing tragedy of Darfur. South Sudan’s independence in July resulted from a 2005 peace deal that ended a half a century of civil war which left two million dead and followed last…

• Libyan Rebels Triumph - So, Apparently, Does Islam

  One of the most popular groups of the late 1960s, Country Joe and the Fish, had a scathing antiwar song about Vietnam, the “I feel Like I’m Fixing to Die Rag,” whose pungent chorus ran, “and its one, two three, what are we fighting for?” No doubt it’s being piped throughout NATO headquarters in Brussels, as the answer becomes increasingly clear. Libya's interim leader, chairman of the National Transitional Council Mustafa Abdel Jalil, in his first public appearance in the Libyan capital Tripoli in front of 10,000 people told his audience, “We seek a state of law, prosperity and one where…

• China Ready to Assist Libya’s Reconstruction

  China’s Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said that his country stands ready to assist Libya in its reconstruction following the downfall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, adding that Beijing supports the United Nations reconstruction efforts. Cui said, "It depends on the needs of the Libyan people themselves, whatever they need we will be willing to help them." Cui made his observations to reporters attending the Pacific Islands Forum in Auckland, New Zealand. When queried as to the possible effort that the United Nations might have in reconstructing the country he replied, “We will support the United Nations to play a…

• Impact of Chinese Investments in Africa

  Since the Chinese first began heavily investing in Africa, the continent’s citizens have witnessed many changes in the economic, social and cultural spheres of their countries. It is difficult today to say unambiguously whether these changes have been positive or negative overall. One thing is certain, however: Chinese expansion into Africa has raised many questions, especially in areas as environmental protection, respect for human rights, workers’ rights and the protection of local labor markets. The Chinese authorities have clearly demonstrated their desire to make economic growth and profit their top priority, as these go hand in hand. It is little…

• China’s Waning Influence in Angola

  Angola is clearly China’s most important relation in the African continent, with bilateral trade between the two nations reaching a staggering $25 billion in 2009. Angola is Beijing’s main trading partner in Africa and its main source of foreign oil imports, providing China with 790,000 bbl/day of Angolan crude oil in 2010. Since 2002 Chinese state own banks have provided Angola with $15 billion in soft loans for hundreds of projects. In 2010, China granted Angola a $1 billion loan to revive the country’s agricultural sector. The Angolan government is paying off these loans with oil exports to China and…

• Africa Takes Tentative Steps Towards Establishing a Free Trade Zone

  Poor Africa – exploited in the 18th and 19th century by European colonialists intent on the Dark Continent’s riches of gold and salves, exploited in the late 20th century by their Chinese “brothers” – are they doomed forever to be under another’s domination? A possible step out of the overlordship of foreigners occurred recently, when last month African leaders, including Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni endorsed an agreement in Johannesburg South Africa to pave the way for discussions on the creation of a continental “Grand Free Trade Zone.” While such an agreement remains on paper, its potential is enormous, as Africa…

• Nigerian Presidential Race Potentially Impacts Global Energy Market

  The conclave of Northern Nigerian elders, known as the Mallam Adamu Ciroma Committee of the Northern Political Leaders' Forum (NPLF), delivered, on November 22, 2010, its decision on the selection of a “consensus candidate” for the Nigerian Presidential elections of 2011, a decision which all four potential Northern candidates agreed to accept. The selection, however, was ultimately made along “financial lines”, supporting the candidate who agreed, apparently, to make all nine elders wealthy: former Vice-President Turaki Atiku Abubakar. See Defense & Foreign Affairs Special Analysis, November 16, 2010: Nigerian Political Situation Again Moves Toward a Watershed. The decision certainly had…