Africa

Schwartz Fellow

Under Hillary Clinton's watch, the State Department has called Nigeria "probably the most important country in Africa." Why? Three words: light, sweet, crude. Nigeria is one of America's largest oil producers, and poised to become even a bigger one. It is also Africa's most populous country—one in six Africans comes from Nigeria—and one of the continent's richest and most corrupt democracies.

There's a cynical kind of math that comes along with reporting on Africa. Forget positive, or complex coverage; the bottom line is death tolls have to be high for anyone to care at all, or for any news outfit to foot the bill on a given story.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 11-day trip to Africa is a promising indication that may be changing. First, it's the longest venture she's taken out of the country thus far. Second, it comes on the heels of her boss'… more

U.S. terrorism experts agree that al Qaeda has suffered setbacks, at least in some parts of the world. Peter Bergen, a CNN analyst and senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank, said the "net effect of the drone attacks" along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, for instance, "has been devastating to their planning and training." Polling data also show a loss of public support for al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan, Bergen said.

Somalia is not new territory for al Qaeda, according to CNN's terrorism analyst Peter Bergen. "Al Qaeda was running training camps in Somalia in the early ...

President Obama's visit to Ghana this month was downright biblical.

Clinton's speechwriter that day, Ted Widmer, recalled a feeling of sensory overload.

"It was surreal in many ways - just one sensation after the next," he said. "Sweat was pouring out of every pore in my body. ... I was seeing these people do a lion dance with deafening drums. ... I've been at plenty of unmemorable political speeches. This one was carnival-esque and fun."

A generation of American activists was inspired by the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, which promised moral clarity amid the cruel compromises of the cold war. As Barack Obama vividly explained in Dreams from My Father, he was one of them. Given the foreign policy dilemmas that the president will face in the years ahead, it's worth thinking through the lessons of the South African transition.

Somalia is not new territory for al Qaeda, according to CNN's terrorism analyst Peter Bergen.

"Al Qaeda was running training camps in Somalia in the early and mid-1990s," he said. "If this is now coming back, this is something that al Qaeda has already done and it's worrisome for the future...

Dambisa Moyo's new book, "Dead Aid ," is a prime example of an old idea wrapped up in new packaging. As a Harvard-educated child of Africa (Zambia), with stints at Goldman Sachs and the World Bank, Moyo makes for an appealing messenger. However, the idea on which her book is based -- that foreign assistance for Africa hasn't worked -- is hardly an original one to most aid practitioners.