Africa Center for Strategic Studies

Media Review for April 10, 2012

President leaves Malawi in ruin
President Bingu wa Mutharika dies of a heart attack and leaves behind a country in ruin. CNN’s Nkepile Mabuse reports. CNN

In Malawi, A Woman In Power, An Economy In Need
Malawi’s first female president takes office with a personal history of women’s rights advocacy and a long fight ahead. For Joyce Banda, economic empowerment is crucial for women’s progress. It is also a nationwide struggle now resting on her shoulders. NPR

Tuareg Nation Upsets U.S. Policy in Africa
In the latest turn of events in the decade-long war on terror, U.S. counter-terrorism policy in Africa was dealt a blow – or an opportunity – with the declaration of independence of the Azawad, the territory claimed by the Tuareg tribes of northern Mali. The Weekly Standard

New north Mali Arab force seeks to "defend" Timbuktu
Members of Mali’s Arab community in the northern town of Timbuktu have formed an armed group to fill the void left by the army’s retreat, adding to a host of factions already involved and extending the ethnic dimension of Mali’s conflict. Reuters

New York: UN chief hails ECOWAS on Mali
New York, US – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has commended the continued efforts by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to facilitate the restoration of constitutional order in Mali, and called on the country’s military junta to immediately implement the accord it signed on Friday with the regional bloc. In a statement made available to PANA in New York on Sunday night, Ban also called on the junta ‘to expeditiously implement the terms of the Framework Agreement which provides for the transfer of power back to the constitutional authorities, as consistently called for by the Security Council and the international community as a whole’. Afrique en Ligne

Mali’s future interim president meets coup leader
The man set to be sworn in as Mali’s interim president to oversee the country’s return to democratic rule met on Monday with the army captain who seized power with other soldiers on March 22. France 24

Peace Corps leaves Mali, new U.S. travel warning issued
Peace Corps volunteers have been evacuated from Mali and non-essential U.S. diplomatic personnel have been offered flights out due to ongoing political instability following a military coup in March, the State Department said on Sunday. Reuters

Navy’s Robot Helicopters Will Automatically Spot Pirates
Helicopter drones that have already helped catch cocaine smugglers at sea could soon get much smarter about hunting modern-day pirates. The U.S. Navy plans to upgrade its robotic Fire Scouts with electronic "brains" that are able to automatically recognize small pirate boats spotted through 3D laser imaging. Innovation Daily

Market bombing in central Somalia kills 12
At least 12 people have been killed and more than 30 badly injured by a bombing in the central Somali town of Baidoa. The governor of the Bay region, Abdifitah Mohamed Gesey, told the BBC that most of the casualties were women and children. BBC

Why is Museveni building region’s strongest army?
Uganda outspends Kenya on military for the first time Uganda’s expenditure on arms surpassed Kenya’s for the first in 2011, a new global arms expert report shows. Uganda spent US$1.02 billion; about double Kenya’s US$735 million. Details show that Uganda spent US$270 million on its usual defense budget items (food, salaries etc) and US$ 750 million on jets pushing its officially disclosed expenditure to US$1.02 billion. The Independent.co.ug

African energy: Eastern El Dorado?
In energy terms, east Africa has long been the continent’s poor cousin. Until last year it was thought to have no more than 6 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, compared with 60 billion in west Africa and even more in the north. Since a third of the region’s imports are oil-related, it has been especially vulnerable to oil shocks. The World Bank says that, after poor governance, high energy costs are the biggest drag on east Africa’s economy. The Economist

Denfense Minister Completes Bilateral Discussions In The US
Liberia’s Defense Minister, Honorable Brownie J. Samukai, Jr. has completed a two-week visit in the United States of America, where he held series of fruitful and productive discussions with some high profile US Government officials and other bilateral partners highlighting the current state of security development taking place in the Liberian Security Sector ahead of UNMIL’s transition. [...] In a related effort, the Honorable Defense Minister of Liberia and team held an office call with Key personalities of the African Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) including Deputy Director Michael Garrison, Associate Dean John Kelly and Retired Colonel Thomas A. Dempsey at the Hyatt Fair Lakes Hotel in Virginia. The Inquirer.com.lr

In divided Nigeria, latest attack strikes all
The suicide car bombing that killed at least 38 people in Nigeria claimed victims across its religious and ethnic lines, showing clearly everyone is at risk in this nation often violently divided against itself. AP

In North Africa, the chickens come home to roost
"Mr. Harper, you and your allies have delivered Mali to the Salafists of al-Qaeda: This is a collateral damage of your intervention in Libya …" This is an excerpt from a spirited open letter published in La Presse by Boucar Diouf, a biologist of Senegalese origin. Mr. Diouf is right, although, in fairness, he should have addressed the letter to all Canadian party leaders since Parliament unanimously favoured Canada’s participation in the air raids over Libya. The NATO operation was actually directed by a Canadian, Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard. The Globe and Mail

Lessons learned in Libya
When U.S. Africa Command stood up in 2008, it was touted as a military combatant command unlike the others. Rather than warfighting, AFRICOM’s focus was to be security cooperation with its partners in Africa. With nearly half of its headquarters staff composed of civilians, AFRICOM also was designed to improve how a military command coordinates with other elements of the U.S. government. Stars and Stripes

Libya probes oil contracts under Gaddafi
Libya has started investigating foreign oil companies over their past relationships with the former Muammar Gaddafi government, an investigator with the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) said on Monday. Reuters

ElBaradei to co-found new Egypt ‘revolutionary’ party
Top Egyptian dissident and Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei will set up a political party with other opposition figures to represent "revolutionary" forces, a co-founder told AFP on Monday. The future political bloc, known for now as "Party of the Revolution," will be a "centrist, civilian and revolutionary party," said Shadi Ghazaly Harb, a member of a youth group who helped launch last year’s uprising. AFP

Tariq Ramadan: the Muslim Brotherhood currently lacks political substance – video
Tariq Ramadan, author of The Arab Awakening, on the Muslim Brotherhood, which has chosen to field a presidential candidate in Egypt. He says there are tensions in the movement between those prepared to reach out to secularists – as Ennahda has done in Tunisia – and those who want to go it alone. He goes on to argue that at the moment the Brotherhood relies heavily on historical and religous legitimacy rather than presenting a serious set of policies for dealing with Egypt’s stark economic and social problems. The Guardian

Police Clash With Anti-Government Protesters in Central Tunis
Police clashed with anti-government protesters who tried to storm Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis on Monday in defiance of a ban on demonstrations in the area – a focal point of the revolt that ousted Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali more than a year ago. NY Times

Morocco: Last Marines land, prepare to begin field training at African Lion 2012
Nearly 200 Marines from 3rd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, arrived in Agadir, Morocco, April 7 to support the field training exercise portion of Exercise African Lion 2012. Approximately 1,200 U.S. military personnel arrived in various regions of the Kingdom of Morocco to take part in the annual exercise, designed to improve interoperability and mutual understanding of each nation’s military tactics, techniques and procedures. DVIDS

Disclaimer

Please note: The following news items are presented here for informational purposes. The views expressed within them are those of the authors and/or individuals quoted, not those of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, the National Defense University, or the Department of Defense.

The Africa Center is the pre-eminent Department of Defense institution for strategic security studies, research, and outreach in Africa. The Africa Center engages African partner states and institutions through rigorous academic and outreach programs that build strategic capacity and foster long-term, collaborative relationships.