"These results have been widely embraced by democracy enthusiasts and seen as a significant milestone in Malawi’s democratization project .... However, a critical review of the overall conduct and handling of the polls in May raises a crucial question as to whether or not these elections should be celebrated as the significant achievement they have been made out to be."
“The examples of M23 and ADF showcase the positive potential of decisive peace enforcement, but neither the unsatisfactory ‘peace agreement’ following the FARDC-FIB success against M23, nor the atomization of ADF into much less powerful but persistent micro-units, are long-term solutions .... [T]he quest for peace needs to be understood as a molecular process involving at least as much of a bottom-up as a top-down logic.”
"The proposed three-tiered government structure will ease the historical tensions between Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar, and strengthen this iconic political union. The contentious issues between these two entities raised...can best be addressed by this government format which gives Zanzibar an identity, as well as Tanganyika, through a revised Union government. Having a constitution that captures and espouses the aspirations of a majority of Tanzanians is key for continued statebuilding."
In her book "Youth and Revolution in Tunisia," author Alcinda Honwana rightly reminds us that the phenomenon of the “Arab Spring”—or as she refers to it, the “African Awakening”—was intimately connected to a globalized trend. From Senegal to Spain to Santiago to Seattle, the voice of a disaffected generation went viral across social media platforms on every continent. She expertly handles the task of deconstructing the roots of the revolution [...]
The African Peacebuilding Network asked several scholars and practitioners to explore what they consider to be the most significant issue(s) in the coming elections and the likely implications for post-2014 South Africa. What do these elections portend for the country in the face of domestic demands for solutions to problems of rising levels of poverty, violent crime, unemployment, inequality, corruption, and unequal access to basic services? How might these elections affect South Africa's role within southern Africa? What implications will they have for the country's relations with the rest of Africa, the West, and the emerging powers?
"Restarting this process of building mass literacy could be a good way to revitalize all of NEAZDP’s components, rebuild trust, resurrect peace, and open the door to other community-driven integrated development initiatives .... Carried out by and for the people, such initiatives would replace the slogan 'education is bad' with 'education is good,' and thereby begin to address the integrated problems of generations going back to the 1970s."
