African Region

Africa Emily Bridger

Balancing Budgets on the Backs of the Poor: Government Cuts Funds to CIDA

[captionpix align=”right” theme=”elegant” width=”320″ imgsrc=”http://storage.canoe.ca/v1/dynamic_resize/sws_path/suns-prod-images/1297256355812_ORIGINAL.jpg?quality=80&size=650x&stmp=1335304610241″ captiontext=” Minister of International Cooperation, Bev Oda.”] The Conservative Government has announced it will cut $319-million from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)’s budget over the next three years, while redirecting funds from low-income countries in Africa to middle-income countries in Latin America.  Meanwhile, the Minister for International Cooperation, Bev Read More…

Africa James M. Bridger Maritime Nation

Talking Somalia with Dr. Christopher Daniels

Interview by James M. Bridger Given the dangers associated with conducting research in the country, Somalia has long suffered from a dearth of genuine academic and journalistic inquiry—resulting in a number of myths and misconceptions. Seeking to counter this, Dr. Christopher Daniels has carried out extensive research in Somalia and the wider region in an Read More…

Africa James M. Bridger Maritime Nation

The EU’s Misguided Move to Fight Pirates Onshore

[captionpix align=”left” theme=”elegant” width=”320″ imgsrc=”http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1405/5178639570_e09c65894f_z.jpg” captiontext=” While successful at deterring and disrupting pirate attacks, foreign military operations alone cannot end Somali piracy.”] When confronting the crisis of Somali piracy, the preferred strategy of the international community has been to deploy naval vessels to protect vulnerable ships and deter and disrupt pirate attacks. The refrain that Read More…

Africa James M. Bridger Maritime Nation

NATO, The African Union and the Fight Against Piracy

By: James Marcus Bridger One would be hard pressed to find an article analyzing Somali piracy—be it journalistic, academic, or militarily focused—that does not make the claim that this maritime problem can only be solved on land. In the four years that the international community has attempted to address this crisis, however, a coherent and Read More…

Africa Emily Bridger

All Talk and No Game: Is South Africa Ready to be a Continental Superpower?

In 1994, Nelson Mandela announced that South African foreign policy would forever be guided by the international pursuit of human rights and true democracy. Yet eighteen years later, the country appears to have lost sight of not only Mandela’s guidelines, but of any coherent global strategy at all. In a time when the international community Read More…

Africa James M. Bridger

A Somali Quagmire Part I – A Guide to the Players

By: James Marcus Bridger As was the case for much of the Cold War, Somalia once again finds itself playing host to a number of competing local, regional, and international actors. The beleaguered Transitional Federal Government (TFG) now controls the capital Mogadishu, thanks to an offensive launched by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM)—a Read More…

Africa Cyber Security and Emerging Threats James M. Bridger Terrorism

Things Fall Apart: Nigeria Slides toward Sectarian Conflict

By: James Marcus Bridger Just two short years ago, the Islamist militant organization Boko Haram was discounted by government and intelligence officials as a spent force that lacked the organizational capabilities to threaten the state or endanger foreign interests. By 2011 however, the group had evolved from a small religious sect to a simmering regional Read More…

Africa James M. Bridger Terrorism

Emboldened al-Qaeda Offshoot Prompts Western Action

Once considered a quiet front in the global “War on Terror,” the Sahel region of North Africa has become an area of increasing concern for Western governments. Emboldened by mercenaries and heavy weapons crossing out of Libya, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has engaged in a spree of kidnappings and attacks, prompting Canada, the Read More…