Why the U.S. Can’t Promote Democracy in Burundi

On Tuesday, Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza’s party, the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (NCDD-FDD), won 77 of 100 seats in the Burundian parliamentary election that was boycotted by most other parties and widely panned by international observers.  The presidential election will be held next week under the same …

French Troops Kill Two Top Members of AQIM

On May 20, the French defense ministry released a statement saying that French Special Forces killed two top leaders of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in northern Mali. The men were identified as Amada Ag Hama, also known as “Abdelkrim the Tuareg,” and Ibrahim Ag Inawalen, also known as “Bana.” Two other jihadists …

Early Reports of a Coup in Burundi

In a season of testing for democracy in Africa, recent unrest in Burundi has been escalating as President Pierre Nkurunziza’s party recently nominated him for  third term.  The nation’s high court, under great duress according to some reports, rubber stamped the constitutional question of the candidacy. Now BBC is reporting that Major General Godefroid Niyombareh …

Instability in Burundi Tells of Larger Trend in Africa

Ten years after emerging from a civil war, there are noteworthy signs of instability in the east-African state of Burundi as Burundian police fired tear gas and water cannons at protesters on Friday. Hundreds of people gathered to protest President Pierre Nkurunziza, who came to office in 2005, possibly running for a third term in …

An African Vortex: Islamism in Sub-Saharan Africa

From the Editor’s Desk In October 2003, the government of Kano State in Nigeria stopped an ongoing polio vaccination program and did not allow it to resume until August 2004. As a result, a polio epidemic which originated in Kanohas now spread to 22 African countries, including ten who had been previously free of the …