Africa Center Commentary & Analysis

Through high-level relationships and a track record of well-respected analysis, the Africa Center speaks directly to the stakeholders who matter, shaping policy on the foremost issues of this dynamic continent.

New Atlanticist

Sep 3, 2018

Dispelling the dominant myths of China in Africa

By Aubrey Hruby

Foreign direct investment (FDI), especially in technology, and small and medium enterprise diffusion are critical parts of China’s 2.0 approach to the continent.

Africa China

AfricaSource

Aug 27, 2018

China provides Africa opportunity—and risk

By J. Peter Pham

Next week in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping will open the seventh Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the triennial summit gathering of the People’s Republic of China’s top leadership and their counterparts from all the African states except eSwatini (formerly Swaziland), Taiwan’s sole remaining diplomatic partner on the continent. Numerous African leaders, the chairperson of the […]

Africa China

New Atlanticist

Aug 26, 2018

Remembering John McCain

By Atlantic Council experts

US Sen. John McCain—a Vietnam veteran, six-term senator, and recipient of the Atlantic Council’s Freedom Award—passed away on August 25. He was 81. Atlantic Council leadership and fellows share their tributes to McCain.

AfricaSource

Aug 14, 2018

CAR’s changing security landscape: a catalyst for UN policy change?

By Andrew Carroll

Amid strong pressure from the Trump Administration, the United Nations (UN) voted at the end of June to cut over $600 million from its peacekeeping budget. The majority of these cuts are set to come from key operations in Sub-Saharan Africa, including the UN’s mission in the Central African Republic (CAR), known by its French […]

Africa English

AfricaSource

Aug 13, 2018

After Mali’s runoff, challenges remain

By J. Peter Pham

As the attempts by militants to disrupt the democratic process underscored, the security situation in Mali, especially the sparsely-populated northern expanses of the country, remains precarious.

Africa Elections

AfricaSource

Aug 6, 2018

20 years after the embassy bombings: The long war in Africa

By J. Peter Pham

It has been twenty years since that morning of August 7, 1998, when suicide bombers detonated, almost simultaneously, trucks laden with explosives outside the United States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The attacks, the first claimed by al-Qaeda against US targets, left 224 people dead, including a dozen Americans, and around […]

East Africa English

New Atlanticist

Aug 6, 2018

20 Years After the Embassy Bombings: The Long War in Africa

By J. Peter Pham

It has been twenty years since that morning of August 7, 1998, when suicide bombers detonated, almost simultaneously, trucks laden with explosives outside the United States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The attacks, the first claimed by al-Qaeda against US targets, left 224 people dead, including a dozen Americans, and around […]

East Africa

New Atlanticist

Aug 3, 2018

Uncertainty and a Need for Leadership After Zimbabwe’s Election

By David Wemer

After days of uncertainty, protests, and violence following Zimbabwe’s July 30 presidential and parliamentary elections, “everyone has got to take deep breath,” Dr. J Peter Pham, the Atlantic Council’s Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives and the Director of the Council’s Africa Center said. In the early hours of August 3, the Zimbabwe Electoral […]

South & Central Africa

AfricaSource

Jul 30, 2018

Why Mali’s election matters

By J. Peter Pham

While the July 30, 2018, general election in Zimbabwe—the first in almost four decades where longtime ruler Robert Mugabe won’t be on the ballot—has been attracting a great deal more attention, the presidential election in Mali one day earlier matters just as much and, arguably, is even more important to the security and geopolitical interests […]

Africa Elections

New Atlanticist

Jul 25, 2018

Zimbabwe at an Inflection Point

By Ashish Kumar Sen

On July 30, for the first time in more than thirty years, Zimbabweans will vote in a presidential election in which one name will be conspicuously absent from the ballot: Robert Mugabe. Mugabe stepped down in the face of pressure from the military, his party, and the Zimbabwean people on November 21, 2017, even as […]

South & Central Africa