All Africa Monitor
Nigeria's Boko Haram: Is it here to stay?New analysis suggests the shadowy insurgency benefited from the 2013 war in Mali, that its leader 'Abubakar Shekau' may be both a single person and the name for a collective leadership, and that the group's ability to destabilize remains strong.
Why Central African Republic's year of violence can't be explained as 'religious'Adding up all the dynamics of history, culture, and grievance doesn't explain what's happened with Muslims and 海角大神s. When it comes to violence, not everything has a reason.聽
Nigeria buzzes over possible negotiations with Boko HaramA negotiated swap for the girls makes so much sense.聽
Malawi elections in limbo as mellow African nation faces drama, uneaseAs the votes got counted last week, President Joyce Banda saw the numbers and shouted fraud.聽
Imagery is everything: George Clooney's Africa satellites will track crime gangsSatellites have been used with great effect to confirm human rights abuses and war crimes. Now they will try to 'follow the money' and track those aiding war in East Africa and beyond.
US aid to help Nigeria with Boko Haram: What it means so farUS efforts on the 300 girls is small and may not help. But it is large enough to start 'mission creep' and get America blamed for a war on Islam. Nigeria claims now to have found the girls.
Handling Boko Haram: Nigeria's Goodluck Jonathan in denial about his own ArmyPresident Jonathan now calls Boko Haram the 'new frontier' of terror. Yet in doing so he ignores the old and ongoing excesses of his own security forces.聽- Refugee soccer team from Darfur hopes to compete in SwedenDarfuri footballers come from 9 of the 13 major camps. They've had tryouts and training but are still short on scratch.聽
So Joseph Kony's son is now 'deputy leader' of the Lord's Resistance ArmyThat news has been bandied about for some time: Yet it fits Mr. Kony's pattern of marginalizing talent and senior officers in the pursuit of absolute control and those who are loyal.
Election outcome: South Africa is moving away from a one-party stateThe 2014 elections mark the emergence of new parties like the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters -- and portend a politics based on issues not loyalty to ANC.聽
Boko Haram kidnapping outcry goes evermore viralPublic protest and social media in Nigeria, and in places like New York and Washington, have created a tipping point for help in recovering the abducted school girls.
Goodluck Jonathan should take Western help to find girls, before trail goes coldPresident Obama, with teenage girls of his own, has called Boko Haram's kidnapping of more than 250 school girls an 'outrage.' Eight more girls were taken on Tuesday.
Will Nigeria accept US and UK help, to stop Boko Haram? It should.President Goodluck Jonathan should avail Nigeria of the same international help, for example, used to track and capture Joseph Kony of the Lord's Resistance Army in eastern Africa.聽
South Sudan oil town changes hands for fourth time. Why?Ethnic politics and shifting loyalties around Bentiu, an oil-gateway town, make it difficult for either the government or rebels to hold. Meanwhile, as war continues, previous peace agreement seems worthless.聽
Torn by war and potential famine, South Sudan needs US humanitarian surgeFighting and displacement has left millions at risk of famine, necessitating a robust US humanitarian and diplomatic response, as the peace process inches along in Ethiopia.
The mad, mad debate over Rwanda -- 20 years after the genocideRwanda is the best success story of state-building in Africa in the last 20 years, despite its autocratic habits.聽
Nigerian forces killed hundreds of unarmed in Giwa Barracks incident: AmnestyWith intensified struggle between Boko Haram and Nigerian military, should a conversation begin about African multinational force intervention?
Janjaweed in Darfur burn, loot refugee camp next to UN peacekeeper compoundImages from Satellite Sentinel Project confirm torching by armed militia of refuge for 3,000 displaced persons. Eyewitnesses describe fatality, injuries, kidnapping and attendant mayhem.- Al Shabab leader hits popular chord in call to oust Kenyans, EthiopiansWith Kenya's unilateral decision to enter and create a new buffer state inside Somalia, Ahmed Abdi Godane's urging this week to kick foreigners out has an audience, and even some logic.聽
New Boko Haram videos urge 'brethren' to attack all over NigeriaIn the wake of bloodshed around major military barracks in Maiduguri, one of Boko Haram's leaders has released two videos. What's really going on in northern Nigeria conflict is very unclear.聽