Wrapping up a relatively quiet trip to Africa, the UN Security Council toured Liberia, a country that has calmed after years of devastating war, but which still has the potential for instability. Addressing the topic of the UN peacekeeping mission that has operated in the country since 2003, Liberia's president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, offered this:
Asked when the country would be able to stand on its feet without peacekeepers, Johnson-Sirleaf told Reuters after talks with a Security Council delegation: "Two years after the elections. Then we can ask everybody to leave."
Four years (elections are scheduled for 2011) may seem like a rather arbitrary timeline, but the Secretary-General and Security Council representatives on the trip -- including U.S. ambassador Susan Rice -- were inclined to agree with the schedule, as well as with the proposed troop drawdown to come. The UN is currently omnipresent in Liberia, and its peacekeepers play an important role in making sure the country remains safe, stable, and democratic. And as Nick Kristof's most recent column attests, some problems -- one of the worst, in fact -- have stuck around even as peace has settled in.
(image of UN vehicles in Monrovia, from Scarlett Lion)
Reports are emerging that Ethiopian troops have incurred (again) on Ethiopian territory. If the rumors are true -- and I don't doubt that it's hard to know for certain in this ambiguous border area -- then it goes without saying that an(other) Ethiopian invasion of Somalia would be even worse for the country's prospects than a premature UN peacekeeping mission (which, fortunately, stilldoes not seem popular in the Security Council; even the countries that are now willing to actually provide some troops are urging restraint).
I see a number of possibilities here. Ethiopian troops might not actually be in Somalia -- or, more likely, at least not invading. Ethiopia, naturally, denies the reports. Under this scenario, either Somali observers would have to have been over-eager to spot Ethiopian soldiers (possible, but a stretch), or the Somali state media has some interest in raising the possibility of Ethiopian invasion. This would be curious, because while practically any Somali political group could attempt to stoke its popularity by calling out the much-disliked Ethiopian military, this kind of scaremongering tactic seems to befit the al-Shabab militants more than it does the Somali government. Not even the presence of foreign peacekeepers would galvanize the extremist al-Shabab cause than a renewed war with Ethiopia.
More probably, however, some Ethiopian troops have flitted across the border into Somalia. Remember -- the peace deal under which the Ethiopians withdrew from their two-year occupation stipulated that they could return if they perceived a relevant threat. With al-Shabab forces recently advancing further in Somalia, the point at which Ethiopia deems it necessary to launch another full-scale invasion might be nearing (even an African Union official said he "would not be overly surprised" if this were to happen).
This reading -- that Ethiopian movement is in response to a growing al-Shabab threat -- probably makes the most sense, but we shouldn't forget another player in the region: Eritrea. If Eritrea is indeed funneling arms to al-Shabab, Ethiopia could be acting out of agitation with its neighbor's continued interference. And in this light, the Somali state media attention could be a not-so-subtle message to Eritrea: quit it, or a bigger fish might get involved.
That, or it's just big news. Check out this Al-Jazeera video for more good questions, interesting analysis, and heated debate from all sides.
Well, not for the war crimes he has been indicted for committing during a particularly ravaging attack on an AU-protected camp, but for agreeing to show up at The Hague for trial. This sets a positive precedent for others in Sudan indicted by the ICC, such as, um, that president guy. But even though this may put Bashir in an awkward position -- he opposes both the ICC and the Darfuri rebels -- don't expect his plane to veer out his much-traveled regional orbit toward the Netherlands any time soon. He has developed quite a knack for talking out of both sides of his mouth, so I fully expect him to find a way to condemn both the rebels' war crimes and the court trying them, without so much as a flinch of hypocrisy.
(And as Kevin Jon Heller notes, it is unfortunate that the first trial involves Darfur rebels, and not government forces; but it will be that much more unfortunate if the only trials to go forward are ones that involve rebels, and not those responsible for creating the bleak environment that Darfur has been reduced to.)
The physical safety of women in a given country is a better predictor of its peacefulness than wealth, level of Islamic influence, or even strength of democracy. Violence against women (including female infanticide and sex-selective abortion) may account for more deaths than all the wars of the 20th century. This kind of cultural aggression likely sparks increased nationalism and, eventually, warfare.
[Rwanda Defence Forces] has been encouraging the deployment of women in peacekeeping and has been providing training and educational opportunities for women. Since last year, RDF has worked with local governments, police and civil society organizations to create more than 400 local anti-sexual and gender-based violence clubs across the country and has trained more than 6000 people for peacekeeping missions.
Then I remembered that Rwanda also has the highest percentage of women in parliament in the entire world. Causation doesn't equal correlation, for sure, but it's worth thinking about the role that curbing violence against women has had in the country's evolution since the 1994 genocide (in which the murder, maiming, and raping of women reached a terrifying peak). Improving technology is certainly helping Rwanda, but improving the position of women is not only a human rights imperative; it is also contributing to the country's peacefulness.
(image of Rwandan women, from flickr user Women for Women under a Creative Commons license)
The lowest order of threat to the [Transitional Federal Government], the Somali people, the region, and the United States is actually the security item enjoying the greatest attention right now-piracy. Even so, the continued epidemic of piracy off the Somali coast is a problem and a test of the capacity of the TFG to extend its authority. Proposals to provide external assistance to the TFG for the establishment of a coast guard are premature, do not reflect the security priorities of the Somali people, and are unlikely to work. Indeed, training up coast guard officers could easily produce unintended consequences, as that new skill set will be more valuable in the piracy sector than in the public sector, producing defections from the coast guard. A more appropriate approach for the TFG will be to tackle piracy onshore. That will require time, funds, and extensive negotiations. External actors will have only limited roles to play in this internal Somali process.
Antipiracy measures would attract much greater support among Somalis if those efforts were accompanied by international action to end illegal fishing off Somalia's coast. Like the shabaab during the Ethiopian occupation, pirates have managed to cloak their criminal agenda beneath a veil of Somali nationalism. Although illegal fishing has undoubtedly decreased due to the effectiveness of Somali pirates, international commercial fishing boats have for years violated Somalia's territorial integrity and severely disrupted local Somali livelihoods. [emphasis mine]
Less so: a potential new blockbuster, starring Samuel L. Jackson as too-busy-to-even-watch-movies-about-himself pirate negotiator Andrew Mwangura. Mwangura, who has been the go-to source for journos as the piracy saga has unfolded over the past year, pleads humility, but I seem to recall questions emerging last summer about just exactly what went on in his contacts with pirates.
At any rate, I'm sure that the Samuel L. Jackson flick won't go into the nuances of how to support Somalia's government and rule of law without upsetting the delicate balance in this fragile country. That's what our smart friends at Enough are for -- and, while arguably less sexy, these measures will do a lot more for saving lives and restoring stability than an opportunistic Hollywood ever could.
Jackson, it's worth mentioning, does bring some negotiating cred to the role:
Washington, DC looks at the plight of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo this week, in the form of a hearing tomorrow that will be held by women's rights advocate Senator Barbara Boxer. The panels feature State Department reps, playwright and V-Day founder Eve Ensler, and Enough's John Prendergast, among others, and is aimed at addressing the staggering problems of rape and sexual violence in both DRC and Sudan.
Washingtonians can also literally see the situation faced by Congolese women in a photo exhibit on display this week called Congo/Women, featuring these stunning images of life and women in Congo. Be sure to check it out if you're in the District.
An international peacekeeper has been shot dead in Sudan's Darfur region, in an apparent bid to steal his car, the joint UN-African Union mission said.
He was shot outside his home on Thursday night in the south Darfur town of Nyala as he was parking his car, Unamid officials said.
The situation in Darfur degenerated for a reason, to be sure, and those responsible for creating and perpetuating this state of anarchy will have to be held accountable. But the reality is, this kind of opportunistic banditry is what is going on in Darfur right now, and efforts should be focused on ensuring that the people of Darfur -- let alone those who risk their lives protecting them -- be protected from this kind of wanton violence.
(image of UNAMID peacekeepers at a funeral, June 2008, from United Nations Photo)
The Irish Defence Minister has officially banned recreational soccer football for the 400 Irish troops stationed in Chad as part of the UN mission there.
Defence Minister Willie O'Dea said the decision was made for health and safety reasons. "The reality in Chad is that the ground is extremely hard. Some of the sports are played out on open ground and when people fall, it tends to have a much greater impact on their bodies than falling in a field in Ireland, where the ground is not nearly as hard," he told the Dáil.
(Not to worry -- "indoor judo" is still acceptable, according to the Irish defence brass.)
The ground is not too hard -- or more importantly, not yet too muddy -- for Chadian rebels to attempt, in fits and starts, their annual assault on the capital, N'djamena. Naturally, the latest fighting -- in which Chadian rebels were most likely supported by the Sudanese government -- occurred just days after Chad and Sudan pledged to halt violence against one another for what seems like the umpteenth time.
Chad's government says it has repelled the attacks -- and the rebels insist they are still moving toward N'djamena. The rebels' gambit seems a little desperate this time around, but the UN has rightly voiced concern about the impact of both the rebel violence and Chad's reprisal bombings on the country's stability and the situation of the 300,000 refugees in the east.
In case the fighting gets too close, it's good to know that at least the Irish peacekeepers can still practice their judo.
(image of Irish peacekeepers, from flickr user EDWARD DULLARD)
Question: Where are the top three movie-producing industries in the world?
Hint: Yes, they all end in "-ollywood," and, yes, one of them is in fact Hollywood.
Answer: But the United States' vaunted movie machine is not first, as lovers of Indian "Bollywood" flicks surely know. Nor, however, is it even second any more. According to the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Nollywood has moved into the runner-up position. (That's the moniker for Nigeria's film industry, for those less well-acquainted with the global distribution of -ollywoods.)
What's more, it wasn't even close. Nigeria produced more than 400 more feature-length films than the U.S. in a year, and, even if fewer people have seen them, it's still an impressive cultural achievement. As UNESCO's Director-General puts it, with only a touch of bombast:
Film and video production are shining examples of how cultural industries - as vehicles of identity, values and meanings - can open the door to dialogue and understanding between peoples, but also to economic growth and development.
And as in other economic and cultural arenas, if the U.S. wants to keep up, it will have to acknowledge and interact with the burgeoning industries in the rest of the world.
(image of a sampling of Nollywood movies, from flickr user mtrank under a Creative Commons license)