Africa Center Commentary & Analysis

Pham Remembers Mandela on Fox News

Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham spoke with Fox News on the passing of former South African President and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.

Nelson Mandela: Visionary Pragmatist

By J. Peter Pham

The passing of former South African President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is a loss not only for his beloved South Africa, but also for Africa as a whole and, indeed, for the world. Mandela will be rightly remembered as one of the great figures of our time. The manner in which he led his country’s transition […]

South Africa’s Next Ten Years: Major Trends and New Scenarios

The Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted a luncheon presentation by Dr. Frans Cronje, deputy CEO of the South African Institute of Race Relations, on “South Africa’s Next Ten Years: Major Trends and New Scenarios.” 

Advancing the New US-Morocco Strategic Partnership

On the occasion of the meeting between His Majesty King Mohammed VI and President Barack Obama, the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted “Advancing the New US-Morocco Strategic Partnership Event,” a discussion with His Excellency Salaheddine Mezouar, minister of foreign affairs and cooperation of the Kingdom of Morocco, and other members of the Royal Delegation.

Africa Center Hosts Leslie Lefkow of Human Rights Watch

The Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted a roundtable discussion with Leslie Lefkow, deputy director of the Africa division at the Human Rights Watch. Lefkow presented the findings of the recently released HRW report, They Want a Confession: Torture and Ill-Treatment in Ethiopia’s Maekelawi Police Station.

Poaching Peace and Security

By J. Peter Pham

Last week, former rebels loyal to the opposition Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) announced that they were abandoning the twenty-one year old peace accord with the government of the southern African country after army troops overran a remote jungle base. The military action followed a spate of attacks on arms depots as well as civilian buses […]

Kenya Working Group Hosts Raila Odinga

The Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted a meeting of the Kenya Working Group with the Right Honourable Raila Odinga, former prime minister of the Republic of Kenya. Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham welcomed participants and introduced the discussion, which was moderated by Joel Barkan, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies […]

No Hollywood Ending to Piracy off Somalia

By J. Peter Pham

The Tom Hanks movie “Captain Phillips,” which opens Friday, will focus attention — again — on piracy off the coast of Somalia. The movie, in which (spoiler alert) the bad guys get caught, unfortunately might lead you to think that this is a problem that’s been solved. After all, since the April 2009 seizure of the cargo […]

Cut-Rate Counterterrorism

By Bronwyn Bruton and Paul D. Williams

As the attack on Nairobi’s Westgate mall and the failed Oct. 4 raid by Navy SEALs in Somalia have reminded the world, the fight against terrorism in East Africa is far from over. It’s a fight that has been ongoing for two decades, but since 2001, the United States has outsourced much of the effort […]

Back to Somalia?

By J. Peter Pham

This past weekend, twenty years to the day after the conclusion of the Battle of Mogadishu, the deadly firefight dramatized in Black Hawk Down that left eighteen US military personnel dead and some six dozen others wounded (Pakistani and Malaysian units with the United Nations peacekeeping force also suffered casualties as they tried to relieve […]