Strengthening African Governance
All citizens of all countries desire to be governed well. That is what citizens want from the nation-states in which they live. Thus, nation-states in the modern world are responsible for the delivery of essential political goods to their inhabitants. More>
FEATURED PUBLICATIONS
AP Photo
December 13, 2008
"Uniting Against Mugabe's Corrupt Regime"
Boston Globe
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
DESPERATE Zimbabweans cannot understand why Africa and the forces of world order have abandoned them in their hour of need, when what is left of their once wealthy nation decays irredeemably. President-elect Barack Obama has spoken critically of Africa's irresponsibility. So have French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. All three want Africa to eject Robert G. Mugabe, Zimbabwe's unelected ruling despot.
AP Photo
December 5, 2008
"An African Scorecard"
International Herald Tribune
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
African governance is getting better. That is a major, surprising, finding of the second annual Index of African Governance, produced at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and released last month.
October 2008
China into Africa: Trade, Aid, and Influence
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
“Two myths have been concocted by the West on Africa: that the Western impact on Africa has been benign while China’s record in Africa has only been negative. The truth in both areas is more complex. This volume, China into Africa, brings out the complexity of the China story in Africa and illustrates why more balanced assessments are needed on Africa’s relations with the world”
--Kishore Mahbubani
Dean, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore
AP Photo
June 25, 2008
"Who Will Have the Courage to Save Zimbabwe?"
The Boston Globe
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
AFTER Idi Amin terrorized and killed his own Ugandans throughout the 1970s, President Julius Nyerere of neighboring Tanzania finally sent his army across the border to end the mayhem and restore stability. Who will now do the same for beleaguered Zimbabwe?
Ahron de Leeuw
February 17, 2008
"Bangladesh's model"
Chicago Tribune
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
With Pakistan on edge ahead of Monday's parliamentary elections and opponents vowing to oust beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf, this is a good time to look at how another nearby predominantly Muslim country is faring under military rule.
racoles
December 2, 2007
"Myanmar's leaders are not immune to pressure: Time has come to tighten the screws"
Chicago Tribune
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
First Lady Laura Bush, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and nearly all of the leaders of the democratic world want to bring Myanmar in from the cold. For too long -- 45 years -- a sternly repressive military leadership has denied fundamental freedoms and basic decency to about 50 million citizens.
November 20, 2007
Africa's Successes: Evaluating Accomplishment
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
Seven of mainland sub-Saharan Africa’s forty-five nation-states are widely regarded as being success stories. The mixed conclusions of this analysis are instructive in understanding the dynamics of political and economic achievement in sub-Saharan Africa as a whole.
(AP Photo)
October 7, 2007
"Playing Favorites on Dictators Robs U.S. of High Ground"
Chicago Tribune
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
Myanmar (formerly Burma) is among the four most repressive countries on Earth, and President Bush is right to strengthen sanctions against the junta of aging generals who have pummeled protesting monks in their monasteries. But what about equally odious regimes with which Washington maintains cordial relations despite appalling human-rights records?
June 23, 2007
"China's Mixed Role in Africa"
Boston Globe
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
China is transforming Africa, for good and ill. The United States and other traditional trading and aid partners of Africa need to help Africans craft policies that welcome Chinese investment and trade but condemn the taking of African jobs and the destruction of African industries.
August 25, 2007
Worst of the Worst: Dealing with Repressive and Rogue Nations
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
"This volume makes an unparalleled contribution to the growing and vital field of measurement and human rights. [The book] offers a useful categorization and assessment of repressive and 'rogue' states, allowing us to measure the extenet of repressive state behavior more accurately. His [Rotberg] work should embolden external critiques and facilitate more transparent and accountable foreign policy."
--Sarah Sewall, Director, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard University
Associated Press
April 25, 2007
"A Nation in Decay"
Globe and Mail
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
Nelson Mandela emerged from prison in 1990 to demonstrate the power for good and the best practices of democratic African leadership. His affirmation of inclusionary and participatory values, moreover, matched those that had been affirmed for decades in neighbouring Botswana under presidents Seretse Khama and Ketumile Masire.
Associated Press
April 20, 2007
"Nigeria Neglect Carries Cost"
Baltimore Sun
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
By neglecting Nigeria, the Bush administration has missed repeated opportunities to strengthen democracy in Africa's most populous, most fractured and most important country.
Associated Press
Winter 2007
"Darfur"
YES
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
The murderous civil war in Darfuris four years’ old.Washington has called it genocide. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan showed equal concern and passion about daily killing there. More than 200,000 Darfurians have already lost their lives. As many as 2 million people have lost their homes and been forced into refugee or transit camps. Millions have been raped. Yet, effectively, the world continues to do nothing.
