I can almost smell the acrid, thick smoke of diesel engines powering Russian tanks, personnel carriers and trucks hauling heavy artillery into two eastern provinces of Ukraine’s border with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the two provinces as “independent…
Did hosting the Africa Cup of Nations competition help to heal the wounds of the Cameroonian crisis?
In a tweet she shared last year after a virtual meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed, described football (soccer in America) as a “humble ball that knows no borders, opens dialogue and…
Another year, more conflict in Africa; where’s the off ramp?
In what may feel like a repeat of last year, large parts of Africa kicked off 2022 facing violence, political unrest, poverty and hunger. Demonstrations in Sudan and a crackdown on protesters by security forces made headlines in local and…
A daughter’s tribute — 50 years later
My brother was 15 and I was 18 when our father died Dec. 4, 1971 — 20 days short of his 46th birthday. Initially it was thought he died of a heart attack; he’d been sick all that previous year….
Concerns over escalating Ethiopian conflict trigger memories of past wars in Africa and the need for warlords to embrace peace
As government and rebel forces in Ethiopia advance toward each other and continue to beat the drums of war, concerns continue to pour in from people around the world about the escalating violence and humanitarian disaster in the East African…
Negative emotions increased worldwide in 2020, and not just because of COVID
New research shows that 2020 gave much of the world’s population a whole lot more to frown about, and not only because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 Gallup “Global Emotions” survey, which tracks negative and positive experiences, reports that…
What if we spent $9 billion on diplomacy?
It’s hard to know how to leave when you shouldn’t have been there in the first place. The Afghanistan debacle is all the news these days, and for good reason. The humanitarian crisis created by the sudden departure of American…
Uganda opens its doors to welcome 2,000 Afghan refugees
As concerns mount across the world over what to do about the increasing number of people fleeing Afghanistan after the country’s government was toppled by the Taliban, the East African nation of Uganda has offered to accommodate 2,000 refugees. This…
Afghanistan and America: Bloodlust and the failure of prophetic imagination
It is hard to be dispassionate when people have died fighting for a cause. Objectivity seems especially hard when it comes to the outcome after 20 years of United States-led war in Afghanistan. The U.S. invaded Afghanistan after Al Qaeda…