Africa

BY STEFAN NORGAARD On February 15, Cyril Ramaphosa assumed the office of South African President after an embattled, beleaguered Jacob Zuma finally resigned. Ramaphosa has an opportunity to lead South Africa toward better democratic governance, improved service delivery, and greater equity. On economic policy, he can thread the needle between sound fiscal management and growth-oriented […]

Introduction On October 26, 2016, The Gambia became the third African country to announce its intention to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC).[1] Gambia’s decision came shortly after Burundi and South Africa expressed similar intentions, claiming as several other African states have, that the ICC had become biased and a political tool used against African […]

When Tunisians took to the streets in protest in early January, the target of popular anger seemed clear: the democratically-elected Tunisian government, which had voted in December to pass the controversial 2018 Finance Law that went into effect on January 1. Most saliently, the public was becoming increasingly aware that the Finance Law was not crafted solely by Tunisia’s elected representatives – the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has loaned Tunisia massive sums of money since 2011, contributed heavily to the legislation.

In this week’s episode of the Middle East Weekly podcast, we discuss the worsening humanitarian situation in Eastern Ghouta, Syria, where over 1,000 people have been killed in 2 weeks and 400,000 families are living under siege, as Bashar al Assad’s forces attack the rebel-held city.

A 2017 deal between Libya and Italy, which attempted to stem the flow of migrants from Libya to Europe, demonstrates the lucrative opportunities that insecurity offers for non-state armed groups, as well as the difficulty of divorcing militia engagement in criminal activities from ideological battles in Libya’s civil war.

Stretching from the Atlantic coast in the west to the Red Sea in the east, the region of north-central Africa known as the Sahel has rarely figured as a focus of international geopolitics. Yet this semi-arid band of territory, spanning some 14 countries and home to numerous ethnic and religious groups, is emerging as a new arena in the sprawling global battle between governments and jihadist groups.

After 30 years of implementing the Arabization policy, the challenges with language education in Morocco, if not with the education system as a whole, have yet to be fully addressed. To effect true change and movement towards multilingualism, the entire approach towards teaching language must shift from a grammar-oriented approach to a meaningful competencies-based approach.

Hicham Alaoui, Visiting Fellow at Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and D.Phil. Candidate at Oxford University, sat down with JMEPP Lead Editor Anna Boots to discuss current trends in North African politics, including Tunisia’s nascent democracy, North Africa’s unique position in the Middle East region, and ongoing protests in Morocco’s Rif.

Thanks to all those who attended Monday’s discussion with Glen Mpani. Glen spoke on his views of the military coup in Zimbabwe, countries’ responses, and the impact on democracy. The talk was hosted by the Harvard African Law Association (HALA) and moderated by Priyanka Naidoo who serves as HALA’s Secretary and as the APJ’s Interview Editor.

On this week’s episode of the Middle East Weekly we discuss Thomas Friedman’s recent controversial column “Saudi Arabia’s Arab Spring, at Last” and the attack on al-Rawda Mosque in Egypt’s North Sinai Governorate on November 24, 2017.

A historic first: the first ever panel on LGBTQ rights in the Middle East and North Africa at the Arab Conference at Harvard.

Tunisia celebrates 160 years of constitutionalism.