Botswana

June 15, 2011 | World Defense Review

Zimbabwe’s Runoff Rip-off

Three months ago, Zimbabweans went to the polls and by a clear majority repudiated the nearly three-decade misrule of the Zimbabwe Africa National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) in general and t...

June 14, 2011 | World Defense Review

Enabling Mugabe to Cling On

Last Friday was the twenty-eighth anniversary of Zimbabwe's independence, although the country's long-suffering people of the country might be forgiven for not exactly marking the occas...

June 14, 2011 | Claudia Rosett The Journal of International Security Affairs |

Bad Faith Actor

In the pantheon of United Nations causes, Africa by many measures occupies a preeminent role. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has described “the African challenge” as “the highest...

June 13, 2011 | World Defense Review

South Sudan: Simmering Below the Surface

Last Friday, seven Nigerian soldiers were laid to rest with full military honors in Abuja. The seven peacekeepers – along with one comrade each from Botswana, Mali, and Senegal – were...

June 13, 2011 | World Defense Review

Zimbabwe Zigzags Onto Another Rough Patch

The ongoing stand-off in Zimbabwe between incumbent President Robert Mugabe and the main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, shows how much the political landscape can shift back and forth in t...

June 13, 2011 | World Defense Review

Mr. Bush Goes to Africa

Next week, President Bush, accompanied by his wife, Laura, will embark on a five-country tour across the African continent, with stops planned in Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, and Liberia. Whil...

June 13, 2011 | World Defense Review

Botswana’s Success Sparkles amid African Gloom

While the world has been watching the pathetic spectacle being played out in Harare, Zimbabwe, as Robert Mugabe clings desperately to the levers of power he has held for nearly three decades (see...

March 25, 2010 |

Our Man in Jeddah

Last month, President Obama announced the appointment of Rashad Hussain as ambassador to the Organization of the Islamic Conference. By video, Obama told attendees at something called the U.S.-Is...

January 28, 2010 | Dr. J. Peter Pham World Defense Review

Emerging West African Terror-Drug Nexus Poses Major Security Threat

Over the course of the last month, the foiled attempt by would-be "underwear bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up a Detroit-bound passenger flight on Christmas Day has underscored the dan...

April 24, 2008 |

Enabling Mugabe to Cling On


Last Friday was the twenty-eighth anniversary of Zimbabwe's independence, although the country's long-suffering people of the country might be forgiven for not exactly marking the occasion with dances in the streets. Sure, some 15,000 people were bussed to Gwanzura Stadium in the suburb of Highfield, southwest of Harare, to stomp their feet and chant "Ndibaba Vanogona" (Shona for "he is an able father") as President Robert Mugabe arrived to treat them to an hour-long harangue, to which the listeners dutifully responded with cries of "Down with the British!" But overall the mood seemed to have been succinctly captured by Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), who, from the safety of his refuge abroad, noted that it was "the saddest Independence Day since our liberation from colonial rule." And while the responsibility for this tragedy reposes primarily with the Mugabe regime, some of the blame must be shared by its enablers abroad.

April 17, 2008 |

Botswana’s Success Sparkles amid African Gloom


While the world has been watching the pathetic spectacle being played out in Harare, Zimbabwe, as Robert Mugabe clings desperately to the levers of power he has held for nearly three decades (see
my report last week), not enough attention has been paid to the truly remarkable transition taking place contemporaneously just 500 miles to the west in Gaborone, Botswana. There, on March 31st, President Festus Gontebanye Mogae stepped down and was succeeded by his vice president, Seretse Khama Ian Khama (generally known as Ian Khama).

January 7, 2004 | Clifford D. May Scripps Howard News Service |

Self-Defense Fence

It takes some nerve to scold people for defending their children from terrorists -- the more so when their method of defense is simply to erect a fence to keep the murderers from reaching their i...