Month: November 2012

• Kenya’s 2013 elections: Opportunities for change or opportunities for violence?

  November 29, 2012

  Kenya

  Dear Readers, I’ve been nocturnal of late, crashing on a paper I’m presenting on the post-conflict integration of armed groups into the SPLA at the African Studies Association conference on Saturday. My odd hours may, in part, explain my recollection of the phone call I received this morning from one of my contacts in Kenya.… Read.

• Some brief thoughts on U.S. Africa policy in a second Obama term

  November 7, 2012

  U.S. Africa Strategy

  Dear Readers, I almost hesitate to add another voice to the “U.S. Africa policy in a (insert presidential candidate here) Administration” debate, but here goes: Since the release in June of this year of the U.S. Strategy Towards Sub-Saharan Africa, there have been many critiques of the Obama Administration’s Africa policy. Indeed, at first glance, my… Read.

• Force Reduction Key to South Sudan’s Military Transformation

  November 5, 2012

  South Sudan

  (Originally published in World Politics Review on November 5, 2012) South Sudan has embarked on a program to transform the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), the country’s preindependence guerrilla army, into a professional, conventional force by 2017. However, the success of this transformation strategy, referred to as Objective Force 2017, is contingent on a number… Read.

• Playing chicken with the UN, Uganda threatens to withdraw from peacekeeping operations

  November 2, 2012

  African Union, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Uganda, United Nations

  You could argue that the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, seeks to replace Muammar Qadhafi as the alpha male of Africa and Meles Zenawi as the pan-African mediator. But those aspirations may have to be put on hold. In the UN Group of Experts (UN GoE) report that was leaked last month, Uganda and Rwanda… Read.