Essays

The September 21 Al-Shabaab attack was a significant blow to the difficult process of state building on the continent, producing a sort of fear that prompts advocates of good governance...

Following the Westgate Mall attack in September, a range of proposals have been put forth about what Kenya needs to do in order to protect itself and prevent such a...

The Westgate mall attack in Kenya–one of the most recent indicators of the continuing rise in the use of terror by a network of insurrectionary groups in Africa and globally–compels...

As the world continues to experience the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, new and multiple forms of geo-economic and geo-political power, and unprecedented aftershocks...

With the embers of the Westgate Mall attack slowly cooling off, the Kenyan government’s policies have faced heavy scrutiny. As the global security environment changes and instances of terrorism increase...

Al-Shabaab has begun to mobilize support by taking advantage of political and socio-economic vulnerabilities of the youth in Somalia's neighboring countries. After two and a half decades of counterproductive military...

Reconciliation has become an important term in the national discourse, particularly within Africa. Yet what reconciliation actually refers to, how it should be implemented, and how to assess its level of...

A great political problem on the African continent is the scourge of coups have taken place over the past half century, one being in Madagascar in 2009. To combat these...

Why is building peace in a context such as the Congolese conflicts so hard?  Despite many efforts, including the presence of the largest United Nations peacekeeping mission, international treaties, and...

With the terrorist group Al-Shabaab coming forward and taking responsibility for the recent Westgate Attack in Nairobi, the debate over the implications for security across the region has been rejuvenated....

This essay examines the connection between elections and democracy, drawing on the case of Ghana. It evaluates the role played by civil society and the Ghanaian Electoral Commission (EC) before...

The Westgate siege affirms an observation made by many concerned Kenyans over the years, and more fervently since March: that there is a nexus between the high levels of insecurity...