Amid the growing number of reports warning that climate change threatens security, one potentially dangerous – but counterintuitive – dimension has been largely ignored. Could efforts to reduce our carbon footprint and lower our vulnerability to climate change inadvertently exacerbate existing conflicts? more

This paper is specifically about providing suggestions for positions the AU can take vis-a-vis the European Union’s Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). Central is an urgent call for member states to give the AU latitude to ensure that the conclusion of EPAs with the EU is postponed until, at least, the next decade. Simply: If the EU successfully foists EPAs on a critical number of member states through unilateral threats to prematurely withdraw or limit preferential treatment, the negative consequences will be devastating not only to Africa but to many trading partners. more

A workshop report focused on three areas of intersection that have dominated discussions of climate and security links in developing country contexts. more

Long before it came to the Arab world, spring swept through sub-Saharan Africa. In 1990, Mozambique drafted its first multiparty, democratic constitution. The next year saw multiparty elections in what had been one-party states in Benin, Gabon, and Zambia, as well as the overthrow of Mali’s dictator and, subsequently, the election of new leaders. Every succeeding year brought new steps forward for democracy—in Ghana, Kenya, and the Republic of the Congo in 1992, and elsewhere on the continent in subsequent years. The world only paid attention when South Africa joined the ranks of democratic nations in 1994. more