Africa

By Asa Winstanley | @AsaWinstanley | – Nelson Mandela’s church, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, this month endorsed Palestine’s Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS). At a recent conference in Cape Town, the church denounced “Israel’s ongoing ill-treatment and oppression of Palestinian people, and the historic prophetic role played by the church and international […]

Ethiopia

Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize for Freeing Ethiopia’s Dissidents, but Challenges still Await

The Conversation

By Mohammed Girma | – Abiy Ahmed, the Ethiopian Prime Minister, has won the Nobel Peace Prize. He becomes the 100th Nobel Peace Prize winner, and the first Ethiopian to receive the accolade. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Alexandros Michailidis/Shutterstock Abiy is the 12th winner from Africa to be awarded the prize. Last year it […]

Sudan

Sudan’s new Shift toward Civilian Rule a Bitter Defeat for Saudi-UAE Authoritarianism

Middle East Monitor

By Thembisa Fakude | @fakudet| – “Sudanese are proud Arabs, they master the Arabic language and their firm Islamic adherence further emphasise their position as Arabs.” Most Sudanese are sceptical, for various reasons, of being referred to as Africans. Their political trajectory, therefore, over the years, has tended to mimic those of the Arab world. […]

Somalia

Slamming Ilhan Omar, Orientalist Sen. Rand Paul confuses Somalia with Game of Thrones

contributors

By David Pechefsky | – (Informed Comment) – US Senator Rand Paul’s recent statements regarding Somalia are absurd on many levels. They are perhaps not worthy of further comment, but given that Paul a) sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and b) the US is fighting a war in Somalia, they shouldn’t be ignored. […]

Sudan

What the Press Gets Wrong about the Sudan Crisis: It isn’t (Mainly) about Secular Democracy

Peter Bechtold

Portland, Or. (Informed Comment) – Almost all reporting on the Sudan crisis has in common is that the reports have been uneven or flat-out incorrect. This pattern has persisted with the coverage of the uprisings against military rule earlier this year, primarily in the characterization of severe conflicts between the Sudanese military and democracy-seeking revolutionaries. […]

Sudan

As Sudan Crowds Demand Civilian Rule, Was Al-Bashir’s Overthrow just another Military Coup?

Middle East Monitor

By Khalil Charles | @khalilcharles | – According to well-informed sources, on the night of 22 February this year, as the invited guests in Sudan’s presidential palace gardens and television crews waited for the President to arrive and address the nation, the country’s former head of intelligence was also waiting. Enraged by President Omar Al-Bashir’s […]

Sudan

As Military Junta consolidates Rule in Sudan, Masses demand Civilian Government

Middle East Monitor

By Khalil Charles | @khalilcharles | – Historians and political scientists who have followed recent events in Sudan closely will point to the irony of the current dispute between the military and protest groups over the definition of, and demand for, civilian rule. In 1999, a well-documented split between former President Omar Al-Bashir and National […]

Sudan

In Killing 100 Protesters to Avoid Civilian Rule, Sudan’s Junta Committed Historic Blunder

Middle East Monitor

By Abdulwahhab Badrakhan | – It is still not clear what’s going to have a stronger influence on the choices of the military leaders in Sudan. The public mediation of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who delivered, through the African Union, a message from the international community demanding the immediate handover of power to a […]

Sudan

Why Sudan’s deadly Crackdown on Protesters could Escalate in coming Weeks

The Conversation

By Eric Keels and Joshua Lambert | – Sudanese security forces violently removed a protest camp in the capital, Khartoum, on June 3. In addition to brutally beating the pro-democracy protesters, government troops also fired on the demonstrators. Early numbers suggest that at least 61 people died during the week, though that number may grow […]