Africa

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Guns and Oil: Obama’s National Security Policy Toward Africa

Daniel Volman January 25, 2010 Daniel Volman

A year into his presidency, Barack Obama is essentially following the same course of militarised action in Africa pursued by his predecessors over the past decade. A consequence of the US president's faith in the necessity of the global war on terror and pragmatic political concerns around retaining oil supplies, Obama's approach to Africa has been entirely rooted in asserting his country's military might.

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Bill Sutherland, Pan African Pacifist, 1918-2010

Esi Sutherland-Addy, Ralph Sutherland, Amowi Sutherland Phillips, and Matt Meyer January 7, 2010 Esi Sutherland-Addy, Ralph Sutherland, Amowi Sutherland Phillips, and Matt Meyer

Bill Sutherland
Bill Sutherland, unofficial ambassador between the peoples of Africa and the Americas for over fifty years, died peacefully on the evening of January 2, 2010. He was 91. A life-long pacifist and liberation advocate, Sutherland became involved in civil rights and anti-war activities as a youthful member of the Student Christian Movement in the 1930s.

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Guinea’s Slaughter: UN Fact-Finding Tightens The Noose

Rene Wadlow December 31, 2009 Rene Wadlow

Conflict in Guinea
The UN Human Rights Council initially took no real action on the news of the September 28 shootings of unarmed civilians in Conakry, Guinea as the Council was in the last days of its session and had little time or will to draft a resolution or set up a fact-finding mission.  Thus the Council ended up passing the issue over to the African Union, which issued a statement deploring the violence and then passed the issue on to the 16-member regional body - the Economic Community of West African States.

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Dennis Vincent Brutus, 1924-2009

Patrick Bond December 28, 2009 Patrick Bond

Dennis Brutus
World-renowned political organizer and one of Africa's most celebrated poets, Dennis Brutus, died early on December 26 in Cape Town, in his sleep, aged 85. Even in his last days, Brutus was fully engaged, advocating social protest against those responsible for climate change, and promoting reparations to black South Africans from corporations that benefited from apartheid.

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Obama Moves Ahead With US African Command

Daniel Volman December 15, 2009 Daniel Volman

Concerned over the supply of oil to the US and a supposed need to continue the global 'War on Terror', President Barack Obama has essentially maintained the militarised approach to Africa that was the hallmark of his immediate predecessors George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The escalation of AFRICOM (United States African Command) activities underlines a troubling commitment to an approach based on might and dominance, one entirely at the expense of promoting sustainable economic development and democracy.