Less than 24 hours after an astonishing joint news conference between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, in which Trump sided with Putin over his own intelligence agencies, former President Barack Obama finally did what his supporters have waited for him to do since he left the Oval Office. Read Here – The Atlantic
It is not easy being the first black of anything let alone the first black president of a racially fraught country. Contending with deeply entrenched pessimistic views of black leadership – being the first black president leaves little margin for error; your success as the first black is bound up with the image of an […]
Silvio Berlusconi is out and Angela Merkel was reelected. Nelson Mandela and Hugo Chavez passed away. Fidel Castro didn’t. People took to the streets in Kiev and Bangkok, Cairo and Khartoum. The president of Syria ignored Barack Obama’s red line and used chemical weapons, while Iran was willing to engage in negotiations with the United […]
This isn’t the first time U.S. and Cuban leaders have shaken hands, but that hasn’t stopped people from getting worked up. Read Here – The Atlantic
South Africa is hardly an unqualified success story. The unemployment rate hovers just under 30 percent, and nearly a quarter of South Africans live at or near the poverty line. Read Here – Foreign Affairs
Although often seen as rivals in global politics, the US and France are working together to prevent parts of Africa from falling into the hands of al-Qaeda-linked fighters. Read Here – BBC
Mandela epitomised those instincts we most associate with childhood: trust, goodness, optimism; an ability to vanquish the night’s demons with the knowledge that the sun will rise in the morning. Read Here – Mail & Guardian
While South Africa has made remarkable progress in dismantling the political and social remnants of apartheid, many of that era’s economic institutions, practices and mindsets remain largely intact Read Here – Gulf News
Nearly two decades after the collapse of apartheid, South Africa is a pluralistic democracy with a robust free press, an independent judiciary, and a commitment to the rule of law. The country’s mixed economy is the largest–and arguably least risky for investors–on the continent, with deep capital markets and highly developed financial services. Yet despite the […]
The ailing former president has been squarely on South Africa’s mind the last few months. At 94, he is frail and fading fast. Housebound and bedridden in his Johannesburg estate, he is rumored to be senile; some claim he no longer speaks at all. One especially devastating newspaper report, quoting his former wife, said that his “sparkle was fading.” Read […]
looking beyond borders 