Last weekend, Bahrain held special elections to fill 18 parliamentary seats left vacant after members of the Islamist al Wefaq party resigned last February amid anti-government protests. Despite the government’s attempts to fill the seats without incident, Bahrain’s opposition seized the opportunity to revive anti-government protests, which the government had …
President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s return to Yemen on Friday after four months in Saudi Arabia has sparked renewed violence after protestors launched demonstrations against the government that were violently repressed. Since the beginning of the uprising last January, Yemen—an already volatile and poor country—has plunged deeper into chaos, dividing the …
Piracy off the Horn of Africa increases every year due to constant instability in the region. In 2008, 111 vessels were attacked. Since the beginning of 2011, there have already been 188 attacks. Every year worldwide piracy costs the shipping industry billions of dollars in rerouting, ransoms, and many other …
Osama bin Laden was disposed of last April, but al-Qaeda’s intention to commit acts of terrorism against the U.S. and its allies is undeterred. In his testimony this week to the joint congressional intelligence hearing, CIA director David Petraeus warned, “Ten years after the 9/11 attacks, the United States continues …
Next month, Tunisians will go to the polls for the first time since former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled the country last January. Voters will determine the members of the National Constituent Assembly, which will be tasked with re-writing the constitution and determining the selection process of the …
While the Libyan rebels continue their search for deposed dictator Muammar Qadhafi, rumors abound as to where the former despot could be hiding. Some believe he fled to Niger, others suspect that Zimbabwe or Burkina Faso have granted him asylum, and some are certain he’s still in Libya. As Qadhafi’s …
On Friday, a suicide bomber launched an attack against the U.N. headquarters in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja. The Islamist sect Boko Haram (translated: “education is sinful”) has taken responsibility for the attack, which killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens. While Boko Haram’s attacks have escalated in recent …
This summer, Boko Haram, Nigeria’s Islamist insurgency, has gained rapid notoriety following a string of brutal killings. While its attacks are domestic in nature, primarily targeting the Nigerian government, evidence reveals that Boko Haram has received support from international terrorist groups, namely al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Boko Haram’s …
Last week President Barack Obama praised Presidents Yayi of Benin, Condé of Guinea, Issoufou of Niger and Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire as models of Africa’s democratic progress. Since gaining their independence, many African countries have suffered poor governance and widespread instability due, in part, to the unwillingness of African leaders …
