By Haggai Matsiko Did Belgium’s gay prime minister block president from Summit? Tensions were already high when President Yoweri Museveni set off on April 1 for the 4th EU-Africa Summit in the Belgian capital Brussels. There had been an attempt to get all 82 African leaders to boycott the event. …
Read More »Will America fund South Sudan war?
By Haggai Matsiko IGAD tight-fisted as parliament sends Museveni to war without a budget One day before parliament on Jan.14 debated the deployment of Uganda army troops to South Sudan, the U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice issued a statement that could have serious implications for President Yoweri Museveni’s Juba …
Read More »America’s Debt-Ceiling Debacle
By Katharina Pistor Debt burdens are growing yet excessive reliance on debt finance is undermining basic tenets of democracy When Greece’s sovereign-debt crisis threatened the euro’s survival, US officials called their European counterparts to express bewilderment at their inability to resolve the issue. Now, the tables have turned, with American …
Read More »America’s broken dream
By Carol Graham Americans pride in their country’s status as the land of opportunity is under threat The United States has long been viewed as the “land of opportunity,” where those who work hard get ahead. Belief in this fundamental feature of America’s national identity has persisted, even though inequality …
Read More »America’s Syrian blunder
By Andrew M. Mwenda Why Obama’s proposed military strike against the government of Assad is likely to make a bad situation worse President Barack Obama’s decision on a military strike against Syria demonstrates the triumph of politics over policy, fear over reason and tactics over strategy. Obama had drawn a …
Read More »Inside ‘post-racial’ America
By Andrew M. Mwenda A teenager is killed. The killer is acquitted. The country is USA. The teenager was black. Sounds familiar? Yes! Here is why. Preamble from the Huffington Post: In March 2013, 16-year old unarmed Kimani Gray was shot seven times, including three times in his back by …
Read More »America’s slippery slope
By Andrew Mwenda How the US war on terror threatens to undermine the cause of individual liberty In 1948, George Orwell published his novel, 1984, a classic statement of the danger to individual liberty paused by increasing technological sophistication, especially in the hands of the state. The novel is set …
Read More »Impossible mission
By Haggai Matsiko Sudan frustrates UPDF, America hunt for Kony As reports persist that Sudan is harboring Lord’s Resistance Army warlord Joseph Kony, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Henry Oryem, has told The Independent that the UPDF is maintaining a strong force at the border with DRC to …
Read More »America’s Third-world politics
By Dani Rodrik The symptoms are there that the US will ultimately be undone by the poor quality of its democratic discourse With its presidential election over, the United States can finally take a breather from campaign politics, at least for a while. But an uncomfortable question lingers: How is …
Read More »Obama or Romney, America has no choice
By Andrew M. Mwenda The presidential election in America, although run by two political parties, actually offers little choice for the ordinary voter As the American election gets near, the partisans on either side have assembled to criticise one another and show that there are actually serious policy differences between …
Read More »