On Tuesday, United States President Barak Obama issued a new policy on the sale of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), also known as Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and drones. Although the policy is couched in terms of human rights and international law, its likely purpose is to pave the way for greater sales of American-made [...]
What a tangled web did Eritrea weave when the top leaders took us for granted and led us to a conflict that could have been avoided! They squeezed us empty, and then they tried to fill us with small-minded hogwash. Memories of my friends who perished in the war remind me of the sacred hope to which I give refuge in my exiled heart. Tears will not fall on their graves … but I hope tears of joy will be shed in their memory, during the great embrace with their ghosts when we, the living, celebrate the rebirth of our country.
A triumph for transparency in defense spending came earlier this week when the Pentagon reversed its decision to classify information about funds spent on military training for the Afghan army and police. The reversal came after mainstream media joined traditional DoD allies in criticizing the decision. For instance, John McCain stated: “These are [...]
Continue Reading →My starting point is that business is politics and politics is business. It would be incorrect and a simplification to say that politics is all about money, because that would imply that politics is all about personal enrichment. My analysis, particularly about the Horn of Africa, but [with] wider resonance and implications in the rest of the world, is that the way the politics and economics function in these societies, politics and business are fused. In order to be a businessperson, you also need to be a politician. In order to run a business, one needs to have certain skills, aptitudes, and capabilities to network and analyze that politicians have. Similarly, to be a politician, one needs to have the abilities that a businessman has.
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Egypt and Ethiopia have otherwise been locked in a low-intensity contest over which nation would dominate the region, undermining each other’s interests in Eritrea, Somalia and South Sudan. A quiet but long-sustained rivalry, it is one of those rarely noticed but important fault lines in international relations that allow other conflicts to rumble on.
This week, however, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt is expected to fly to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, to attend a summit of the African Union. He will also meet with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia, a rare chance to shift the political landscape in northeastern Africa.
Continue Reading →From our colleagues at Tactical Technology Collective: “There are many around the world who use their creativity to resist, remain critical and ask difficult questions that fall outside of popular political and ideological narratives. We take this moment to recognise them show our respect and thanks.
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