Today, citizens of Somaliland head to the polls to elect their local municipal council representatives. While the dysfunctional Somalia gets most of the attention in the Horn of Africa, its northern neighbor Somaliland has stood out as a success story. This election is the fifth direct vote in Somaliland since …
In Monday’s foreign policy debate, Governor Mitt Romney briefly mentioned the importance of economic reform in addressing some of the problems associated with the eruption of the “Arab Spring” uprisings. The Heritage Foundation’s 2012 Index of Economic Freedom confirmed that the lack of economic freedom was a major factor that …
Less than four minutes into last night’s presidential debate, Governor Mitt Romney listed northern Mali as one of the hot spots affected by the proliferation of international terrorism. Romney’s mention of a country in a region of Africa (the Sahel) that few Americans have heard of had many viewers scratching …
Last week, President Obama joked to guests at the Alfred E. Smith Dinner in New York about the upcoming foreign policy debate: “Spoiler Alert: We got [Osama] bin Laden.” While this is indeed the highlight of the Administration’s foreign policy endeavors, President Obama’s failure to take a comprehensive approach to …
Tonight’s final presidential debate will focus solely on foreign policy. Moderator Bob Schieffer announced that the topics will be: “America’s Role in the World,” “Our Longest War—Afghanistan and Pakistan,” “Red Lines—Israel and Iran,” “The Changing Middle East and the New Face of Terrorism,” and “The Rise of China and Tomorrow’s …
Yesterday, Somalia’s newly appointed parliament voted Hassan Sheikh Mohamud into office as the country’s new president. A political amateur and academic from central Somalia, Mohamud is considered to be a moderate. As such, he contrasts greatly with the former president of the Transitional Federal Government, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Mohammed. A …
The South African government has responded poorly to the shootings at the Lonmin mines. Instead of considering its own regulatory policies and the burdensome influence of unions, the government has blamed the mining industry for the tragedy. Last month, workers at the Lonmin mine went on strike, demanding higher wages …
On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a little-known section (and there are many) of the Dodd–Frank financial regulation bill that will end up doing the most harm to the people in the Congo that it purports to help. The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Title …
The State Department is continuing to edit its website into a more Obama-centric story of the world. As reported by The Heritage Foundation’s Jim Roberts, the State Department three months ago changed the format of one of its better products, the country-by-country Background Notes to a format allegedly more in …
The ongoing crisis in Mali, a poor, landlocked country in northern Africa, continues to sow devastation and displacement. Mali’s current troubles began in earnest following the 2011 fall of Libyan tyrant Muammar Qadhafi. Armed mercenary fighters from Mali in Qadhafi’s employ, mostly ethnic Tuaregs (Berber nomadic tribes), returned to northern …
