Politics

I had argued that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s repeated reference and attribution to and use of the historically flawed geopolitical and regional boundary term “Western Tigray”. Such a narrative is a “de-facto” recognition of the contested claim of the right by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to incorporate forcibly annexed Amhara lands into Greater Tigray. Tragically for Ethiopia, this policy will reinforce violence and cause more bloodshed.

In Uganda, there have been widespread allegations of arbitrary detention and torture of members of the opposition. As a human rights expert who has been monitoring  the situation, it is imperative that I share my insights into domestic laws and what they say in relation to detention of civilians by security forces in Uganda.

On March 4, 2022, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board was briefed on “the economic impact of the war in Ukraine, and on possible fast-tracked financial assistance for affected countries.” There is no doubt that costs to human life and the damage to the economy in Ukraine are massive. More than two million Ukrainians have fled their homeland. Equally important is the effect of the underappreciated, and unprecedented coordinated sanctions on Russia by the West.

Africa is full of promises. It has immense untapped natural resources and a growing human capital base estimated at one billion three hundred million Africans, mostly young. Its potential is constrained by poor governance, corruption, and massive illicit outflow of capital, tribal conflicts, and terrorism. Conflict ridden and war-torn Ethiopia represents Africa’s promises and pitfalls.

The USA possesses national institutions that can mitigate risks and avert “destabilization of this great nation.” Who will defend weak nations targeted by the USA? Indeed, the USA Government’s nefarious activities are destabilizing Ethiopia. The Biden Administration’s pro-Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF)’s position has tainted and undermined mutually beneficial relations between USA and Ethiopia.

When the Cold War ended in 1989 with a slew of arms limiting agreements these people in the Blob were effectively unemployed. While they were down and out this should have been the time for both superpowers to get rid of all their nuclear weapons. What were they needed for? Lying around, albeit unused, they could be picked up and deployed again if relations turned for the worse–which they did. Simply put, this was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Africa has been depicted as the "hopeless continent" by Western media and the public. But Africa is more diverse and bigger than most people think, with a land area exceeding Europe, the United States, and China combined and a three trillion-dollar economy. According to UNDP, Africa has 1.34 billion people (17% of the world pop), home to some 30 % of the world's mineral reserves, 40 % of the world's gold, 90 % of its chromium and platinum, 12 % of the oil reserves, largest reserves of uranium in the world and 65 % of the world's arable land. Despite such a long list of natural resources, Africa can't fully feed itself.

The lorries have no drivers. The supermarket shelves are emptying. The poor are having their subsidies cut. The British government ties itself in knots trying to square what is a circle in Northern Ireland. Brexit–the leaving of the EU–is failing the nation. But Europe itself is not failing. In fact, it is about to get stronger. Writing in 1751 Voltaire described Europe as "a kind of great republic, divided into several states, some monarchical, the others mixed but all corresponding with one another. They all have the same religious foundation, even if divided into several confessions. They all have the same principles of public law and politics unknown in other parts of the world."