Media Review for August 10, 2012

By Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Updated: 08/10/2012

Please note: The following news items are presented here for informational purposes. The views expressed within them are those of the authors and/or individuals quoted, not those of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, the National Defense University, or the Department of Defense.

Today’s News


Hillary Clinton’s most excellent African journey
Hillary Clinton’s exuberant progress across Africa is a marked departure from the tough, challenging reception given George Bush’s secretary of state. Rather, this trip seems to have been more a victory lap accompanied by modest economic goodies and a round of drinks or two to celebrate a litany of success. But, were there some other, darker, currents at play? Daily Maverick

U.S. offers help to Nigeria to fight terror group
The Obama administration is renewing an offer to help Nigeria marshal military and intelligence resources against a growing extremist threat that U.S. officials fear could spread to neighboring nations, a U.S. official said Thursday. The Washington Post

Clinton aide – Nigeria military alone can’t beat Islamists
The United States wants to help Nigeria fight Islamists it sees as a growing regional menace, but the country cannot rely on military might alone, an official travelling with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. Euronews

U.S. Envoy Rice at United Nations on Sudan, South Sudan
Remarks by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, At a Security Council Stakeout on Sudan and South Sudan. State.gov

No new deadline for Sudan and South Sudan but pressure to continue , US Rice
UN Security Council will not fix a new deadline to the Sudan and South Sudan talks in Addis Ababa over the unresolved issues, nonetheless the talks cannot last for months, said US Ambassador Susan Rice. Sudan Tribune

The New Al Qaeda Menace
Al Qaeda has a new stronghold in Africa in northern Mali, its largest since the fall of Afghanistan in 2001. It has successfully gained the support of a local jihadist group, Ansar Dine, much as it partnered with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Algeria, Mali’s biggest neighbor, which has a long border with the new jihadist emirate, seems curiously unwilling to take action to address in the problem. The National Interest

Mali says military action against Islamists ‘inevitable’
Mali’s government said Thursday that military intervention in the Islamist-held north was ‘inevitable’ as the jihadists defied mediation efforts and cut off the hand of a thief. The west African nation’s embattled interim authorities said the act showed the limited use of dialogue in finding a solution to win back the north which has been under Islamist rule for over four months. AFP

The Ivory Coast’s Politics of Belonging
Ahead of former president Laurent Gbagbo’s delayed ICC trial, current president Alassane Ouattara’s visit to Europe provokes angry protests claiming he is not Ivorian. Think Africa Press

African Union: Power shifts south
A South African takes the helm at the continental organisation amidst at least four African crises that will test new chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s diplomatic and political skills. The Africa Report

Brother Knows Best: How Egypt’s new president is outsmarting the generals.
[...] What makes the Rafah incident more interesting than previous attacks in Sinai — of which there have been many — is its potential to break Egypt’s political logjam. At first it looked as if Morsy would bear much of the blame for the attack despite his tough rhetoric in its aftermath. Indeed, he stayed away from the funerals for the martyred policemen, claiming implausibly that his security detail would disrupt proper mourning rituals. Protesters chased Hisham Qandil, Morsy’s handpicked prime minister, from the proceedings with a barrage of shoes. Foreign Policy

Sinai: Egypt tribes back offensive against militants
Bedouin tribal leaders in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula have agreed to help restore security in the lawless border area with the Gaza Strip and Israel. In talks with Interior Minister Ahmed Gamal al-Din, they also backed plans to destroy smuggling tunnels into Gaza. The move comes as Egyptian troops mass in the area in an operation to contain Islamist militants who have built up a presence in the area. BBC

Mohammed el-Megarif, Former Gadhafi Foe, Elected Interim President Of Libya
Libya’s newly formed national assembly elected former opposition leader Mohammed el-Megarif as the country’s interim president on Friday, the latest move to establish a democratically based leadership after decades of rule by deposed dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The Huffington Post

Amid Rise in Piracy, U.N. Backs Summit on Maritime Security
 When the United Nations advocates the protection of the world’s oceans, its political agenda transcends the battle against marine pollution, global warming, overfishing, greenhouse gases and sea-level rise. “We are also talking of high seas piracy and growing conflicts over maritime boundaries,” says one U.N. official. IPS

Thousands gather to bury Ghana’s Mills
Thousands of mourners from presidents and dignitaries to ordinary Ghanaians arrived in the capital’s Independence Square on Friday for the funeral of president John Atta Mills. Times Live

Uganda starts diplomatic efforts to end DR Congo fighting
Uganda has started frantic diplomatic efforts aimed at garnering international support to end fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that has displaced tens of thousands of people. Xinhua

Somalia’s brave new world
In a field of dozens of candidates, President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed is confident of re-election later this month. It’s a sign that while in many ways everything is changing for Somalia, in other ways nothing is. Globalpost

The child who had never seen a zebra
In June I toured Kenya with a dozen journalists; part of an International Reporting Project trip investigating reproductive health issues, funded by the Gates Foundation. This is the fourth article in a five-part series exploring the ways we were manipulated and misled by a procession of public officials, NGOs, activists and spokespeople; examining the reasons why a disturbingly high proportion of what we hear about Africa is just plain wrong. The Guardian

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This entry was written by Africa Center for Strategic Studies, posted on August 10, 2012 at 7:47 am, filed under Media Review and tagged . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.