Posts in World: Africa
A Fatal Feud - Colonial Roots of Kenya’s 2007 Post-election Violence

Since its independence in 1963, Kenya has been hailed as an island of peace and stability within Africa. It therefore came as a surprise to the international community when violence rocked the country starting December 28, 2007, barely twenty-four hours after the conclusion of a highly contested presidential election. What could have caused the 2007 post-election violence?

Read More
Nigeria: The New Pakistan or the End of Boko Haram?

Nigeria’s army has been long recognized as one of Africa’s most well equipped and organized, but events over the past years including its failure to quell Boko Haram have called this into question. The case of Nigeria echoes that of the Pakistan and the Islamists in the Waziristan tribal regions, with both states having effectively lost control over large portions of their territory to Islamic extremist groups.

Read More
Who's Responsible?

Much of the media frenzy surrounding the Ebola epidemic in West Africa has been a product of intense focus on the grotesque symptoms of the disease. The media has also fixated on the chaos that ensued in the most deeply affected countries. Reports have described hospitals overrun with Ebola patients, with other important aspects of medical caregiving such as maternal healthcare and AIDS treatment left unattended, and dead bodies abandoned out of fear of contamination in the streets of Freetown, Liberia. This coverage has unfortunately failed to call attention to the many factors that contributed to Ebola’s rapid spread, including the weak initial response to the disease.

Read More