I used to write a fair amount about West Germany and report on the federal elections. Like most American journalists, historians, political analysts, and politicians—and most Germans, for that matter—I could not imagine the collapse of the Soviet empire and the unification of the two Germanies.
Liberal politicos—as distinct from progressive ideologues—rarely express their belief that “family planning,” as it’s euphemistically known, can alleviate or even solve the problem of poverty. We recall President Bill Clinton’s first surgeon general, the logorrheic Joycelyn Elders, remarking in her…
Twenty-four years after a horrific genocide, Rwanda has made an astonishing recovery.
David Hollinger’s new book, Protestants Abroad: How Missionaries Tried to Change the World but Changed America, is a comedy of unintended consequences, the thesis of which is a joke—a serious joke, a very intellectual joke, but funny, with a sting. It goes like this: “The Protestant foreign…
In February 14, South Africa’s president Jacob Zuma resigned amid widespread corruption allegations, ceding power to his newly elected deputy, the business tycoon and onetime anti-apartheid activist Cyril Ramaphosa. Less than 24 hours later, Ethiopian prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned,…
If there were any doubt about the numerous reports that President Trump referred to Haiti and nations in Africa as “shithole countries” in a Thursday meeting about immigration with lawmakers, it melted away with a statement from the White House that did nothing to deny it.
In the wake of the New York City truck attack that killed eight and for which ISIS claimed responsibility, President Donald Trump tweeted that "the Military has hit ISIS 'much harder' over the last two days." However, there is no direct evidence of a spike in anti-ISIS strikes, and the broader…
An attack on October 4 by suspected Islamic State-affiliated militants that left four American soldiers dead has unexpectedly pushed the landlocked, sparsely inhabited African nation of Niger into the limelight. While most Americans seem less interested in the attack itself than in the ensuing…
A week before Kenya’s August 8 presidential election, the mutilated body of Chris Msando, head of software for the country’s chief electoral body, was found in a ditch outside Nairobi. His autopsy revealed that he had been tortured before dying of strangulation. That the man who held the passwords…
It was a long time before they were overcome—before we finished them. When we did get to them, they all died in one place, together. They threw down their guns when their ammunition was done, and then commenced with their pistols, which they used as long as their ammunition lasted; and then they…
John Kerry painted a dire picture of impending climate doom Friday in Kigali, Rwanda. At a meeting of parties to the 1987 Montreal Protocol, an early climate agreement, the secretary of state said in part:
Only one eco-feminist (yep, that's a thing) came with the full force of ideology to an event on Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon called "Gender Equality and Energy Access"—and of the handful of private and public sector panelists, she was the one speaking for the White House.
Last week, THE WEEKLY STANDARD reported on a $412,000 contract for 1,280 sleeping room nights at the Hilton Hotel in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. However, at least two other hotels were booked for the visit, and a fourth hotel was also used, although no contract has yet been posted. The new…
When the president of the United States travels, the White House and the Secret Service bring along a tremendous amount of communications equipment. Not only does the Secret Service set up a command post to coordinate communications for the visits, but secure connections are also needed for the…
The American ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, is being sent to Ebola-infected nations. The travel plans were announced this evening on Twitter.
NBC News chief medical editor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, and her crew will be flown back to America from Africa to be quarantined, an NBC memo states. The drastic action comes after a freelance member of the NBC crew reporting on Ebola was in fact diagnosed with Ebola.
The banner, featuring a cartoon condom with a smiling face, reads: "I am Mr. Condom. Use me whenever you want to have sex. I will protect you from STDs, early pergnancy [sic], and unwanted pregnancy." Across the top of the banner are the words "I took the condom pledge," the slogan from which the…
President Obama addresses the "people of West Africa" in a video posted Tuesday by the U.S. State Department regarding the growing threat of the Ebola virus, which Centers for Disease Control director Tom Friedman just declared on CNN "completely out of control" in Africa (via HotAir). The…
President Obama talked about his commitment to Africa in personal terms last night at the White House. "I stand before you as the President of the United States and a proud American," Obama told the U.S.-African Leaders Summit at dinner last night.
During a talk to the U.S. embassy staff in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the first stop on his trip to Africa, Secretary of State John Kerry remarked about what he called the "different cross-currents of modernity" and the challenges they present on the African continent. The comments contain a veiled…
Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, a central figure in Mali’s political life for over 20 years, was the winner in Sunday’s runoff vote in the landlocked West African nation’s presidential election, as his rival, Soumaila Cisse, conceded and congratulated his compatriots on a civic duty well done.
In Tanzania, Michelle Obama joked about the "prison-like elements" of being first lady. "[B]ut it's a really nice prison," she said. "You can't complain."
Presidents Obama and Bush will meet Tuesday at a wreath laying ceremony in Tanzania. Via the pool report:
Vice President Joe Biden, along with his wife, Jill Biden, will spend this week Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
President Obama is with Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the HIV Foundation Center in South Africa, where a 15-year-old "rapper" performed "Hell on Earth" for him this afternoon. Via the pool report:
At a press conference today in Pretoria, South Africa, President Obama lectured about job creation -- and how to look out for your own national interests:
At the Radisson Blu in Dakar, Senegal, President Obama tried to get reporters to write about issues he believes are important. "[M]illet and maize and fertilizer doesn’t always make for sexy copy, but I very much hope that all the press who were in attendance today generate a story about this,"…
THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with executive editor Fred Barnes on the week that was in Washington.
President Obama stopped by the press cabin on Air Force One, as the presidential plane made its way to South Africa. While there, the press had a chance to ask the president about major issues concerning Americans: the scandals, the controversial Supreme Court decisions, immigration, and many…
President Obama went to the press cabin on Air Force One to say he doesn't need a "photo-op" with the ailing Nelson Mandela, who's currently in a Johannesburg hospital. President Obama himself will land in South Africa shortly and says he doesn't want to be "obtrusive" to the Mandela family.
An unexpected thing happened at tonight's state dinner in Senegal: President Sall reunited President Obama with a character who appears in his book, Dreams from My Father. Via the pool report:
As President Obama and his family continue their tour of Africa, the White House put out a Fact Sheet entitled "U.S. Support for Strengthening Democratic Institutions, Rule of Law, and Human Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa." One of the first items highlighted by the White House is a $53 million…
President Obama, speaking about Edward Snowden in Africa, said he hasn't called the Chinese and Russians about the man wanted by the U.S. government:
In a Friday evening press release, the White House details what First Lady Michelle Obama will be doing when she, the president of the United States, and their daughters travel to Africa next week. A recent article in the Washington Post reported that the trip could cost up to $100 million.
President Obama and his family will be going to Africa later this month. But the trip won't be cheap; it's expected to cost American taxpayers $60 to $100 million, according to the Washington Post.
The White House press office announces that President Obama and his wife, Michelle, will travel to Africa next month:
At least two American hostages (and possibly several more) are being held hostage at a gas plant in Algeria, but there's been no word on unfolding the situation from either President Barack Obama or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Last March the social--networking thickets caught fire, sparked by an online video called Kony 2012. Its creator, founder of the San Diego-based group Invisible Children Inc., was hoping to broadcast the misdeeds of the Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony. The short film was viewed tens of millions of…
In late August, the world’s most high-profile development project celebrated another milestone. The Millennium Villages Project opened its newest site, in northern Ghana, with newly minted Ghanaian president John Mahama and the UK’s international development secretary on hand. The official interest…
Following almost daily coups de théâtre after the Malian junior officers’ coup d’etat of March 22 led by Capt. Amadou Sanogo, indications of the political evolution of the shaken West African country and of the possible military repercussions of the past weeks’ events are being voiced in Bamako.
In the latest turn of events in the decade-long war on terror, U.S. counter-terrorism policy in Africa was dealt a blow – or an opportunity – with the declaration of independence of the Azawad, the territory claimed by the Tuareg tribes of northern Mali.
Alain Juppe, France’s foreign minister, forcefully condemned the coup d’état that overthrew Mali’s president, Amadou Toumani Toure, a few days ago, and called for elections as soon as possible in the context of the restoration of constitutional order. Elections, the first round of the presidential…
With the fall last weekend of the northern Mali garrison town of Tessalit, and its airstrip, to Tuareg secessionist forces, U.S. counter-terror policy in Africa is dealt a stunning setback. A USAF airlift brought supplies on February 14 to the besieged town, which reportedly was overwhelmed by a…
Via Claire Berlinski, I see that things in the Ivory Coast are starting to get bad. Really, really bad:
White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Wednesday that the Obama administration is “actively considering” imposing a no-fly zone over Libya in response to the ongoing regime-backed attacks on the population there. Although the White House has consistently said that all options are on the table,…
The opportunity to watch Washington graybeards at the Council on Foreign Relations jump over each other to take cell phone photos of George Clooney provided reason enough to attend Tuesday’s event on Sudan. But the discussion with Clooney and Enough Project co-founder John Prendergast offered…