U.S. Special Forces now blanket most of the world, yet terrorist groups continue to proliferate. Maybe militarism isn't the solution.
Regions / Mali
If he wants to save his legacy on Africa, Barack Obama will have to be more than a shill for U.S. security firms and corporations.
Is the conflict in South Sudan the opening salvo in the battle for a continent?
Beset by infighting among militias and rampant arms trafficking, Libya in 2014 is a cautionary tale about the long-term consequences of military intervention.
A French re-militarization of Africa, under the well-worn pretext of humanitarian intervention, is in the making.
Al-Qaeda's power has waned in Mali, but unresolved ethnic conflicts still threaten the country after 16 months of civil war, a military coup, and French military intervention.
The Algerian hostage crisis was not only both a human and political fiasco, but its regional implications are still evolving.
Western intervention--ostensibly on humanitarian grounds--is largely responsible for the Malian crisis in the first place.
As in: come home to roost.
One longs for the heyday of ancient Timbuktu, when African scholars pored studiously over learned manuscripts in quiet libraries.