Tag Archives: South Africa

U.S. civil society is more critical of Israeli actions in Palestine than ever. When will the U.S. government catch up?

Africa is second only to Asia in its number of city dwellers, and its cities are growing at an unprecedented rate. Yet understanding of African cities is lagging behind their development. Locally, it’s a massive challenge to build a knowledge base that will support the building of more equitable African cities, making them livable, accessible, and sustainable for all.

A twenty-first century truism: you know you’ve made it when you’re due for a headquarters in Shanghai. So it is with the imaginatively named New Development Bank, a.k.a. BRICS Bank, a lending institute designed to end Western global dominance and finally assert the rise of the South. Or something.

Nigerians are so overwhelmed by the inadequacies of Nigeria; we easily ignore its strengths.  I am not talking here about Nigeria’s potentials; I am talking about Nigeria’s current actual status in the world economy.  I am talking about Nigeria as a country with the biggest consumer market in Africa.  Just think about it: the entire economy of Kenya is only …

While people around the world are mourning and reflecting on the legacy of Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa, and the champion of national reconciliation and forgiveness, South Sudan, the newest African state is descending into deadly political violence with devastating human cost. Indiscriminate killing of civilians, destruction of private properties, and disintegration of security, and armed forces …

Without Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s apartheid nightmare eventually would have come to an end. Its enforcers were beyond the civilized pale, and the world’s patience with them had run out. But, without Mandela’s towering moral and political leadership, the transition would have been long, ugly, and bloody beyond measure.   One Afrikaner leader, F.W. De Klerk, came to understand – …