Africa

May 2001
The Survival of Malawi's Enfeebled Democracy
by Peter VonDoepp
"[T]he image of sure-footed democratic progress must be placed against the picture that emerges from other dimensions of Malawi politics, a picture that presents a more disturbing view and that suggests the prospects for democratic stability and longevity are in question."

May 2000
Pipeline Politics in Chad
by Peter Rosenblum
"Chad has come to the center of international attention as the World Bank, international oil companies, and NGOs struggle over the development of the country's oil reserves. . . . The results will affect not only Chad's future but also the future of other countries dealing with issues of accountability and development in the face of multinational corporations and world financial institutions."

May 2000
America and Africa: Beyond the Double Standard
by William Minter
"In the post?cold war world the stated general goals of United States foreign policy-development, democracy, and security-are congruent with those of African peoples. When deciding how best to achieve these widely endorsed goals, however, a chasm emerges between perspectives crafted purely in the American foreign policy arena and those rooted in African realities."

May 2000
Nigeria: The Politics of Marginalization
by Minabere Ibelema
"Jostling for power by Nigeria's myriad ethnic groups has, for better and for worse, driven the country's political development since before independence from Britain in 1960. What is new is a rhetoric of the impossible: the marginalization of everyone."

May 2000
Making the Connection: Africa and the Internet
by Mike Jensen
"The development of the Internet is at a critical point in Africa. Web-based services could help accelerate the continent's economic growth and aid poverty alleviation, but these tools place large demands on an underlying infrastructure that is currently incapable of servicing them."

May 2000
Reporting Africa
by Stephen Ellis
"How-and by whom-is certain information identified as news, especially with regard to Africa? And what role does the African press play indetermining what foreign journalists regard as news-and in providing information for the African public?"

May 2000
Lingering Legacy: Apartheid and the South African Press
by Lyn Graybill
"All the [South African] media-with the exception of the alternative press-violated the public's basic right to information on what had been done on their behalf in the name of apartheid. . . . By keeping the public in the dark, they contributed to a climate in which human rights abuses against blacks could and did prevail."

January 2000
Bouteflika and Algeria's Path from Revolt to Reconciliation
by Robert Mortimer
"Balancing the role of the army against the grievances of civil society," Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algeria's new president, is "apparently in charge of a process of national reconciliation that may finally allow Algeria to address the social and economic needs that a decade of political turbulence and violence has made even more urgent."