In June, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a trade bloc in the Horn of Africa/Upper Nile/Great Lakes region that includes Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, and Rwanda, unveiled a plan for a sustainable long-term settlement to the almost two year-long civil war in South Sudan. It called for power-sharing between the … Continue reading Haven’t you had your chance?

On Thursday, Burundi took a step towards forming a much-needed national unity government, to try to heal the rift that exists over President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term in office (which, of course, he won, in part because everybody else boycotted the election). Agathon Rwasa, the leader of one of Burundi's … Continue reading Burundi: one (small) step forward, one (pretty big) step back

Veteran Roger Ailes Expert Gabriel Sherman wrote last week about the most distasteful aspect of this two-part Fox News debate on Thursday: the fact that Roger Ailes is essentially winnowing the Republican field down to 10 candidates at his own whim: As everyone knows by now, Fox has said that only 10 of the 17 … Continue reading The Roger Ailes Primary

If you're a fan of morbid humor, you undoubtedly took some notice back in early July, when Secretary of Defense Ash Carter testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Carter told the committee that, so far, the half-a-billion-dollar US effort to train a force of vetted, moderate Syrian rebels, the centerpiece of America's plan to … Continue reading Nobody could possibly have seen this coming