Today the news media (that I follow anyway) are headlining the unprecedented, surprise visit of Secretary Kerry to Somalia, following meetings in Kenya to discuss the fight against Al Shabaab, regional security (with a focus on Burundi and Sudan) and refugees in Kenya. Besides meeting with current politicians, opposition leaders, the UN High Commission for Refugees and…
From Dadaab to Nairobi My handsome, soft-spoken, well-dressed companion for morning coffee at the Java House in downtown Nairobi this Saturday morning began his journey to this spot in 1992, fleeing the civil war in Somalia as a toddler with his parents. He grew up in one of the Dadaab refugee camps of Northeastern Kenya. This complex of UN refugee camps was…
After decades of civil war, Burundi is exporting peace. In the process, a fragile peace has come to Burundi. But will it last through the next elections in 2015? Seven years ago, just one year after its own fighting ended, Burundi joined Uganda to support the African Union’s (AU) new peace keeping mission in Somalia,…
Impressions on Market Day Eighty-two percent of Ethiopia population is rural – 68 million. On the outskirts of the urban centers of Bahir Dar and Gondar on a busy Saturday in the rainy season, most of these are headed to market on muddy dirt roads. Some are lucky enough to have wheels of some sort (carts, bicycles)…
Steinbruner presents an alternative framework for considering the antagonistic stand-off between US and Iran – one that relies on mutually accepted principles deeply embedded in both cultures. The problem is translating those common principles into political action, with both parties having to answer to divergent stakeholders who rely on rhetoric of black and white accusations,…
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