Monday 24 October Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has given the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) a two-month deadline to force Sudanese rebels in South Sudan to leave the country. According to the SPLA (IO), 11 government soldiers were killed during a road ambush along the Kola-Wedakona road in northern Upper Nile State. A SPLA (IO)-allied… Read more »
Month: October 2016
This Week in South Sudan – Week 42
Monday 17 October Riek Machar claims that following the July clashes in Juba, the SPLA used seven different planes to locate and attempt to kill him as they pursued him for 37 days from Juba to the Congolese border. IRIN Analysis: “Congo’s South Sudan rebel problem” The Guardian: “Attack on aid workers in South Sudan:… Read more »
An Urban Century: Which Direction Should Cities Take?
The Habitat III conference in Quito, Ecuador this week is the most important meeting on cities and development in decades. It will shape the urban agenda of the 21st century. It is now well-known that the world is more urban than rural, with the challenges of 21st century urbanisation firmly on the agenda. In Quito,… Read more »
This Week in South Sudan – Week 41
Monday 10 October China’s defence ministry rejected allegations by The Center For Civilians in Conflict that Chinese peacekeepers had in July this year abandoned their posts in Juba instead of protecting civilians. A top SPLA General, Lt. Gen. Bapiny Mantuil Wichjang, resigned from the Government of South Sudan (GOSS), accusing President Kiir and his inner… Read more »
No One can Fill King Bhumibol’s Shoes
For 70 years, the beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) ruled Thailand, and to date he has represented the country’s only stable political reference point. Since the introduction of the constitutional kingdom in 1932, the country has been through 19 different constitutions and 12 military coups – the latest just two years ago. The King’s… Read more »
Give Us Your Phone and We May Grant You Asylum
Images of refugees using smartphones have now become common in the Western media landscape, and everybody seems to have learned that refugees and migrants, too, use smartphones. Indicative of this awareness, European governments are now looking into how to make use of these assets in their identity checks and in the processing of asylum seekers’… Read more »
Beyond Recognition to One, Ethical Reassurance to Many
An award can be backward or forward looking; this year’s Nobel Peace Prize is both. By awarding this prize in a moment of crisis for the Colombian peace process, it not only serves as a recognition of past efforts made by individuals, but also rescues an agonizing process and truly encourages further collective efforts for… Read more »
An Impossible Peace
The FARC and the Colombian government deserved to share this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Unfortunately, however, the prize was awarded to only one party. In general we are idiots if we let political correctness govern our views about how the world works. We confuse facts with latent sympathies – a widespread form of intellectual dishonesty,… Read more »
This Week in South Sudan – Week 40
Monday 3 October At least 12 Dinka Bor cattle keepers were killed in the outskirts of Juba over the weekend. African Affairs: “Briefing: Prospects for Peace and the UN Regional Protection Force in South Sudan” The Economist Explains: “Why South Sudan is still at war” Tuesday 4 October Nestle’s Nespresso is temporarily suspending imports from… Read more »
Moscow Gambles on Raising the Stakes – in Syria and Across the Board
The crisis in relations with Russia, and in particular Russia’s behavior in the Syrian war, has become an unusually prominent theme in the U.S. election campaign. That means that a new administration could start with a set of tough pledges, rather than with a clean slate. Campaign trail rhetoric is worth only so much, but… Read more »