Spinning a bit of good news with the bad stuff

Sean Brooks — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:16:16 +0000

I am unusually struck by the lack of good news in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. So before I list the stories on human rights violations, civil conflict, and war that grabbed my attention, lets begin with two stories that could – if spun skillfully – seem like positive developments.

First, Mike Smith at Dipnote (the State Department’s blog) discusses how peacekeeping offers new opportunities for U.S.-China relations. In the long-run, greater Chinese involvement in UN peacekeeping seems like it could help fill critical capacity gaps – and if China would do this in coordination with the United States so much the better. With such a bright horizon, we will therefore today focus on China’s commitment of engineers to the UN/African Union hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) – and not its diplomatic and military support of the Khartoum regime.

As for the other encouraging item, Claudio Guler for ISN Security Watch argues that “a spate of recent international judicial actions is nipping at heels of the some of the world’s most powerful states and suggesting that although a culture of impunity persists, getting off scot-free is little by little on the wan.” This article helps confront the recent rhetoric by some governments and academics that the International Criminal Court (ICC) and other mechanisms of international justice are new tools of western imperialism. The ICC prosecutor’s interest in crimes committed in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as the recent Goldstone report help undermine this claim. I would also add the British court’s surprise arrest warrant for Israeli former foreign minister Tzipi Livni to the list.

But now to the news that is difficult to put in a positive light.

Three recent articles on Eritrea reveal “a lonely nation under a glass.” For the Washington Post, Stephanie McCrummen writes two compelling pieces this week about life in Eritrea and the political strategy of the regime to insulate itself and defy the world. The BBC then highlights the disappearance of the entire Eritrean soccer team in Kenya. This is the young men’s third attempt to flee their country.

News on Monday that airstrikes killed at least 35 civilians in Northwestern Yemen. It is strongly suspected that the Saudis were responsible – which “could amplify anger against the Saudis among Yemeni tribes” and escalate the conflict. What’s worse, the Houthi rebels in the North have blamed the United States for the attack. Waq-al-Waq does not believe American officials though would act so foolishly. And what’s even worse than that, the BBC reports that Somali refugees in Yemen have been forced at gunpoint to join the civil war.

In Egypt, Kefaya – the anti-Mubarak group – announced that it plans to boycott the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. Even the potential of Mohamed El-Baradei, the former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as an independent candidate does not seem enough to motivate these activists to give the elections any sort of legitimacy.

Finally, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) released a stark report on the state of human rights in the Middle East. Hannah Allam provides a useful summary of the report that finds ”a dramatic rollback of civil liberties and human rights in the past year, with similar violations from the Levant to the Arabian Peninsula to North Africa.”

Oh, and on top of all of these items, did I mention another crackdown in Khartoum this week and the quagmire in Darfur?

Chinese and Saudis in Africa, updates from Yemen and Northeast Africa, and absurdity from Sarah Palin

Sean Brooks — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:05:58 +0000

What an interesting week. I was not able to blog on much of it, but here is what I was reading:

It’s not just Sudan…more on China in Africa: The New York Times highlights political implications of a Chinese scholarship program for Namibia’s elite; China and Senegal hope to enhance military cooperation; and at the Globalist, two authors convincingly argue that “China is currently pursuing oil resources in unstable countries without regard for the political risk entailed. While that might play well in the short- to medium-term, it could cost China dearly down the line.”

It’s not just China increasing influence in Africa: Saudi Arabia held the first meeting of the Saudi-East Africa Forum in Addis Ababa this week. Representatives from seven East African countries attended: Ethiopia, Djibouti, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Rwanda. A Saudi minister stated, “Saudi Arabia is committed to combating hunger, to provide support for the host country but also to generate exports. We are not to impose our needs above the needs of local population.” Sudan did not participate in the forum; however, the Saudi Development Fund announced this week that it was donating 15 million dollars for development and rehabilitation in Darfur. The money will go to the “model villages” that the Arab League has pushed as an effort to help IDPs in Darfur return to normal lives.

Whither Yemen? Thats the title of a good blog summarizing the current challenges facing Yemen’s leadership. It concludes that “the period ahead for Yemen is likely to be, to paraphrase Hobbes, ‘nasty and brutish.’” Another blog challenges the notion that Saudi Arabia’s recent intervention in Yemen’s conflict with the Houthi rebels could be good for the US because it will lead to the further militarization of the Gulf and a strong Sunni and Gulf alliance against Iranian encroachment throughout the Arab world. Ian Bremmer at Foreign Policy tends to agree that greater militarization and more proxy wars are usually not constructive anywhere and argues that a failed state next to the world’s largest oil exporter is reason enough for Americans to care about the conflict.

Updates on Ethiopia, Somalia, and Egypt: The Sahel Blog tries to get a handle on what’s happening in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia and how it relates to the never-ending conflict in Somalia. Meanwhile, the War and Peace blog reflects on the significance of the killing of a Somali judge, who “devoted his life not only to the rule of law but to the pursuit of justice according to the sometimes conflicting state, Islamic, and Somali customary law systems in an incredibly volatile political environment.” And finally a former professor of mine, Jon Alterman, explains how “Gamal Mubarak has cast himself as an executive and not a dictator” and made the necessary connections with the security and intelligence bosses to secure power once Hosni hands him the reins of Egypt.

Sarah Palin versus the White House on Settlement Expansion: The White House stood up forcefully this week to further settlement expansions in the West Bank, while Sarah Palin ringingly and shockingly endorsed Israelis rights to build as many settlements as they wish anywhere (!) because – in her unbelievable words – “more and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead.”

Other Tidbits: Rob Crilly quickly notes steep decline of Darfur coverage and asks, “How do we keep people interested in just another African disaster?” From an organization concerned about those displaced in Darfur and other conflicts, Refugees International is taking the lead on “climate displacement” but tells us that “under international refugee law there can be no “climate refugees.” Therefore, they call for negotiation of “the international legal ramifications of the various scenarios” at the upcoming Copenhagen talks in December.

Brains Like a Shoe » Saudi Arabia

Spinning a bit of good news with the bad stuff

Chinese and Saudis in Africa, updates from Yemen and Northeast Africa, and absurdity from Sarah Palin