Month: June 2012
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Potential Takeaways on Africa in the 2012 Failed States Index (Part II)
In my previous post, I gave an overview of Fund for Peace’s methodology for the Failed States Index and offered some brief thoughts on how the index may or may not be useful. This post will focus on how Africa (scoped to exclude Egypt and South Sudan for reasons mentioned in the previous post) fares… Read.
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Making Sense of the 2012 Failed States Index (Part I)
Last week, Fund for Peace released the 2012 Failed States Index. Accordingly, my next two posts will cover my thoughts on how the index may or may not be useful (Part I) and how Africa fares on the index (Part II). But before I start, two important caveats: First, if you are looking for a… Read.
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My ‘Kenya’s invasion of Somalia’ paper and additional insights on Somalia (made by smarter people)
Earlier this month, my analysis of Kenya’s invasion of Somalia was published in Vol 3., No. 3 of PRISM Journal, which is put out by National Defense University. The abstract is as follows: For the past two decades, Kenya has pursued a multilateral and primarily diplomatic approach to Somalia’s instability. However, in October 2011, Kenya… Read.
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“Intellectual Crushes, Culinary Tourism, and Cheeky Americanism”
On my About Me page, I alluded to the possibility of writing about my experience traveling in Africa – to add an entertaining counterweight to my more analytical rants and musings on the events unfolding on the continent. The following is a story about what I’m up to right now in Kenya – learning, eating, etc: Dear… Read.
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U.S. strategy towards sub-Saharan Africa released
I’m in transit to Mombasa, so this post is going to be brief. But I wanted to mention that yesterday, the Obama Administration released a paper detailing the four pillars of U.S. Strategy Towards Sub-Saharan Africa: Strengthen democratic institutions Spur economic growth, trade, and investment Advance peace and security Promote opportunity and development These priorities are quite similar to the ones… Read.
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Senate considers funding cuts to Kenyan security forces over human rights abuses (Part II)
In my last post, I wrote about how the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations had asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to submit a report to the Committee to verify that the U.S. government is not providing security assistance to Kenyan military or police personnel who may have been involved in human rights abuses in Mt. Elgon… Read.
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Senate considers funding cuts to Kenyan security forces over human rights abuses (Part I)
Last month, the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations released a report of the Department of State Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2013. In the section of the report that discusses Foreign Military Financing (FMF), there is a paragraph about Kenya that reads as follows: “The Committee directs the Secretary of… Read.
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History may judge the MNLA as lost opportunity
Times are tough for the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA). Only two months ago, the Tuareg rebel group was at its peak. Having possessed the strategic initiative in the aftermath of the Malian military’s March 22 coup against Amadou Toumani Touré, the MNLA had also been well armed with machine guns, mortars, antitank and antiaircraft… Read.
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New AFRICOM Brigade a Test Case for a Leaner Pentagon
(Originally published in World Politics Review on June 5, 2012) With budgetary constraints looming and global priorities shifting, the U.S. military is in the process of pursuing leaner and more adaptive ways to achieve U.S. national security objectives around the globe. This effort is in accordance with the Department of Defense’s (DOD) 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance (.pdf),… Read.
Lesley Anne Warner, PhD: Insight | Strategy | Impact 
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