Africa

"Take off your veil!" the Somali soldier shouted at the woman in the mostly empty street. Steadying his assault rifle with his right hand, he ripped away the woman's black niqab with his left. "Why are you coming so close to us? You have explosives?" He leveled the muzzle of his gun against the bridge of her nose. Her mouth, suddenly embarrassed and exposed, broke into a jester's forced grin.

"I just want a juice," she pleaded. Except for a handful… more

Schwartz Fellow
Eliza Griswold is a writer who focuses on conflict, human rights, and religion. Her reportage and analyses have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Harper’s Magazine, and The New Republic, among other publications. She was a 2007 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and is the recipient… more

A radical Islamic regime bites the dust: In Somalia, "regime change" works smoothly, without much cost to America. There are some lessons there.

Last summer, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) took over the Somali capital, Mogadishu, as well as much of the rest of the country. It displaced what had passed for the formal government of that country, which has been wracked by civil war for the past 15 years.

The UIC was the real Taliban-like deal, forcing women into veils,… more

Schwartz Fellow
Nicholas Thompson is a senior editor at Wired Magazine and the author of The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War, which Henry Holt published in September 2009.

As the killing, starvation and rape of Darfur residents by Arab Janjaweed militias continue unabated, a growing chorus of voices is calling for action to end the genocide.

On U.S. college campuses and churches, in the halls of Congress, in European cities, in Africa, an urgent plea to stop the ethnic cleansing is rising. There is, however, a region noticeably absent from the outrage: the Arab world.

This week, Sudan's government -- which has both turned… more

After three long years of war in Iraq, a growing number of Americans are deciding that the U.S. should turn its attention inward. An October poll found that since 2002 the percentage of Americans who think that the nation "should mind its own business internationally" has risen from 30% to 42%. Likewise, trade protectionism and nativism are on the rise. Is the United States destined to enter a period of isolationism? Probably not. That's because evangelical Christians, who make up… more

In most African elections, Big Men use coercion and bribes to stay in office. But since 2000, three major African nations have held real democratic presidential referendums. Senegal's Abdoulaye Wade ousted Abdou Diouf in March 2000. John Kufuor defeated Jerry Rawlings' party in Ghana nine months later. And in December 2002, Kenya's Mwai Kibaki triumphed over Daniel Arap Moi's handpicked successor. All three of these opposition leaders are elderly statesmen. Wade was 74 when he was elected, Kufuor was 63,… more

Pop-star Bono and Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill have just returned from their fact-finding trip to Africa to determine whether foreign aid works and how wealthy nations can successfully aid developing nations. But did they miss the biggest issue: Can information technology and the Internet help Africa develop economically and politically? What will the consequences be if the digital divide is added to Africa's other problems?

Nicholas Thompson discusses the extent to which the Internet has helped Ghana,… more

ACCRA, Ghana -- If you're a Generation-X computer programmer with free time, some cash, and a hankering to change the world, the Geekcorps wants you. If you can tolerate open sewers and meandering goats, so much the better.

Based in Amherst, Mass., the nonprofit Geekcorps sends young computer programmers to technology startup companies in Ghana. The geeks live in the capital of this bustling West African nation, and volunteer in four-month shifts, passing on their skills and helping the… more