Articles:

1. Bejing, A Boon For Africa by Dambisa Moyo

a. June 2011 Hilary Clinton (Secretary of State) gave speech in
Zambia warning of new colonialism in Africa
b. In 2009, China became Africas single largest trading partner,
surpassing the United States
c. Chinas role in Africa is more widely welcomed than USs
d. Chinese investment isnt imperialism- its the continents best
hope
e. Human rights violations and environmental abuses must still be
closely monitored and investigated
f. If anything, bulk of responsibility lies with African leaders
themselves
i. Article published by HRW described abuses in Chinese
owned Zambian copper mines but missed a fundamental
point that the policing and protecting is done by the local
governments
g. B/c so many African governments stay in power due to receiving
of foreign aid, there are strings attached
i. Revenues arent the populations but the governments
ii. Decrease in Western aid in recent years has helped to
increase government accountability
h. With 60% of Africas population under 24, foreign investment and
job creation are the only forces that can reduce poverty and
stave off political upheaval

2. The Economist Somalia and the US Role Update

a. The Prodigal Grandson Returns
i. Barack Obama returning to Kenya, first visit since
presidency
ii. Visit shows a desire to bolster Americas influence in Africa
at a time when growing populism, Islamic extremism and
Chinese economic might are undermining it
iii. Visiting Nigerias new president Muhammadu Buhari
1. His election seen as a chance to mend ties and push
reform
2. Predecessor = Good luck Jonathon Leahy Law
which stops America from supporting military units
known to have committed atrocities, limited the
amount of military aid that Washington could have
supplied to Nigeria
3. Buhari has vowed to clean up and reorganize the
countrys military
iv. US presidents historically have not had much to do with
Africa
1. Bill Clinton introduced the African Growth and
Opportunity Act (AGOA) which slashed American
 tariffs on most goods from many sub-Saharan
countries
2. George W Bush America ramped up aid spending,
targeting AIDS and HIV programs
3. Barack Obama has maintained these programs but
official aid has fallen new policy largely focuses on
promoting economic development and tackling
Islamic extremism
v. US embracing Nigeria b/c it is now the most important
country in Africa
vi. Aid policy more aimed at directly boosting American
investors fortunes and American social policy aims on the
continent
vii. Obamas visit to Ethiopia is intended to improve trade and
security links despite the fact that Ethiopia has become
more authoritarian
b. One man, not vote (Somalia)
i. Main question: How do you hold an election without
registering voters?
1. Trying to create a functional government in Somalia
since 2007
2. Havent had a functioning central state apparatus
since the fall of its military regime in 1991
3. Provisional constitution drawn up in 2012 and
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected president of
the transitional government he announced once
elected that there were be only a one man election
and vote rather than a multiparty system which he
blamed on the fight against jihadism
a. Compromise of a 4.5 formula where four
main Somali clans plus minority clans will act
as representative electors
b. Is dividing Somalis more than uniting them so
far
c. MPs tried to impeach him, citing corruption and
incompetence
ii. Somaliland is autonomous and will ignore process going
on, peaceful

3. The Economist Ghanas Election

a. The opposition wins, so do Africa and democracy
b. New Patriotic Party (NPP) with Nana Akufo-Addo versus John Atta
Mills of the National Democratic Party (NDC)
i. December 7th = voting so tight, had to be redone
1. NPP with Nana wins
ii. December 28th = re-vote, Mills wins
iii. January 2nd = Mills officially declared president, got 50.2%
of vote
iv. Smallest margin of victory in Africans electoral history
c. Conduct of the poll and readiness to accept the loser were just as
important as the result
d. Main goal was for Ghana to have a fair poll
i. Hurdles along the way
1. Several reports of intimidation and attacks at polling
station on December 28th, more so than the first
round of voting
2. Police had to control crowd on December 30th due to
raucous crowd outside electoral commission
3. But in end, both parties appeals for calm were
respected and Mr. Akufo-Addo quickly conceded
defeat when final result declared
ii. NDC still lacks overall majority, despite Mills increasing
their presence in parliament will make it easy for
opposition parties to have more say in governments
legislature
iii. Overall, foreign and domestic observers seem happy with
election
e. Ghana considered one of Africas successes in recent years
i. Economy growing at 6% rate per year
ii. Human rights and individual freedoms strengthened
iii. However some parts remain in absolute poverty, mainly in
north
f. President Mills
i. Former academic
ii. Vice president in late 1990s
iii. Moderate with little apparent inclination to change the
broadly free-market policies of Mr. Kufuors governments
over past 8 years
iv. Jerry Rawlings, former president, calling upon him to spend
more on their people through social projects as a reward
g. Discovery of oil in Ghana two years ago, potential to provide
government with revenues of as much as $3 billion a year by
2010
i. Worried about corruption from oil business like in Nigeria
h. Democracy in Ghana
i. John Mills, president, died of cancer in 2012 his deputy,
John Mahama, is sworn in to replace him
ii. Since 2008, NDC struggling to win re-election in a poll for
December
1. Some angry b/c oil boom hasnt created enough jobs
2. People upset with rate of inflation (9%)
iii. Nana Akufo-Addo is back and touring the countryside to
gain support
1. Promises of an industrial revolution
iv. Question of who will run against Akufo-Addo in next
election?
1. Nana Konadu Ralwings, wife of Jerry Rawlings, could
split vote
 v. Who will benefit the most from offshore oil that was found
in 2007?
1. Lack of jobs b/c requires expensive machinery rather
than manual labor
2. Rising inflation and dipping currency are result of
government spending of borrowed funds
vi. Overall, standard of living has improved in Ghana, now
classed as a lower middle income country
i. Politics in Ghana becoming sophisticated use phones, radios,
newspapers
j. Ghana has seen 6 peaceful elections in a row since transition to
civilian rule in 1992
k. 2013 Election
i. Mr. Mahana won election in December 2012 narrowly
(NDC)
ii. Akufo-Addo asked for court to annul 40% of the 11m votes
cast
iii. Legal procedings started in April 2013 his case was
denied, he didnt ask for an appeal but it showed the
distrust between party leaders
iv. Inflation now above 13%
v. Price of gold is dropping, real value of wages shrinking
vi. When in office of new term, drastically raised prices of
water and electricity had to backtrack due to wrath of
trade union
vii. Africas 7th cleanest country in terms of corruption
l. 2015 in Ghana
i. No longer an economic success story
ii. Government ratcheted up spending on salaries and fuel
subsidies just as commodity prices began to fall IMF
came to rescue, lending $1bil
iii. Inflation at 16.9%, currency value continues to fall
iv. Corruption growing in response to growing oil business

4. Lions, Tigers, and Emerging Markets: Africas Development

Dilemmas by Anne Pitcher
a. Much of Africas wealth is spread unevenly across the continent
and tends to be concentrated in resource-rich countries with
large populations
b. Global financial crisis didnt stunt growing enthusiasm of
investors for the emerging markets of sub-Saharan Africa
c. Report published by McKinsey and Company called attention to
the continuing risks of conflict and poor governance across the
continent but overall was positive about Africa
i. Report proved to be part of a trend of favorable and often
hyperbolic accounts in the popular media and among
reputable international financial institutions proclaiming
the rise of Africa, trend continues today
d. World Bank often speaks of Africas potential
 e. Question of will Africas Lions replace Asias Tigers?
f. New Foundations
i. As a result of conditions imposed by aid by donors and
financial institutions, countries across Africa in the past two
years have liberalized trade, balanced budgets, established
investment centers, created stock markets and passed
privatization laws

Campbell:

Chapter 9: Boko Haram (BH)

Sunday, Nov 25th, 2012 = 2 coordinated suicide attacks on protestant
church, the next day there was an attack on the Special Anti-Robbery
Squad (SARS) which freed 150 suspected terrorists
o No group claimed responsibility, media assigned responsibility to
Boko Haram
HRW since 2009 has estimated that more than 2,800 people have been
killed by BH
BH commonly labeled as a grassroots rebellion with ethnic and
religious conflicts
o Foot soldiers made up of millions that made up the unemployed
youth bulge in the North
o Populist Islamic radicalism of the Sahel caused majority of
violence
o Appeal in North Nigeria = Norths political marginalization,
poverty and bad governance
Theological dispute
o Salafism populist, literal in religious thinking
Long associated with poor for whom it demands justice
Parochial in outlook and leadership
o Sufism more mystical, less literal religious approach
More cosmopolitan and associated with the establishment
Higher level for ambiguity and diversity of religious views
w/in Islam
Boko Haram
o Name 1st applied in the Railway Quarter of a Maiduguri
neighborhood to the followers of a radical malam, Mohammed
Yusef (murdered by police in 2009)
o Boko is Hausa word for book, commonly refers to Western
education
o Haram is the Arabic word for forbidden, committed to teaching
the Prohets teaching and jihad
o Started as a small and marginal part of a larger movement of
Islamic protest in the North transformation from peaceful to
violent group encouraged by security service brutality
Few organizing principles beyond hatred for Nigerias political economy
and the aspiration to create a pure Islamic state based on sharia
 Mohammed Yusef
o Born in Yobe state in 1970
o Was a malam (teacher) not an imam (worship leader)
o Drew on Salafist religious enthusiasm, emphasized justice for
poor through sharia
o Well educated, spoke English, owned a Mercedes-Benz
o Arrested many times but always released
o After his murder, many of his followers arrested, survivors went
underground
Abubakar Shekau
o Successor to Mohammed Yusef
o Believed to be dead but appeared in videos months later
however not see in person since day Yusef was killed
o Less educated, not beyond Koranic studies, no English
Origins of the insurrections
o Long term religious and political context for the expansion of
violent Islam was the struggle in Northern Nigeria to restore
sharia in the criminal domain after the end of military govt in
1998 made it possible to do so
o Nigerian Taliban emerged within 2 years of the sharia wave
Politicians
o President Jonathon complained that his administration in the
ruling PDP were infiltrated with BH
o Widely believed that in Nigeria relations between some N.
politicians and Boko Haram were close
Christians
o Boko Haram received its greatest notoriety in the West for its
attacks on Christians
o By 2012, attacks on Christians causing them to flee, even if
temporarily
Criminals
o Amount increased with the progressive breakdown of order in all
parts of N.
o N. Nigeria has long been an important smuggling route
o Kidnapping for ransom present for centuries
Money and weapons
o Until 2012, largely funded by bank robberies
o Successfully looted weapons from arsenals
o Use of suicide bombers, very popular
Operations
o After 2011, churches increasingly targets for attacks
o Locations of attacks spread towards the West
o Operations also increasing in sophistication
Attacked communication towers
International Jihadist Links
Thomson:

Chapter 8: Sovereignty I (External Influences on African Politics)

I. Sovereignty: is the claim of supreme political authority within a
territory
a. It is about governments enjoying autonomy and freedom of
constraint within their own borders
b. Is seen as mutually beneficial to governments around the world,
respected
c. Each sovereign state is granted unfettered power within its own
territorial borders, being recognized as the sole political authority
within these frontiers, non interference reduced conflict between
states
d. In reality, no states have unconstrained power
e. Vast majority of African countries, are direct creations of external
imperial intervention
II. Inter-African international relations
a. Organization of African Unity (OAU) was created in 1963 to
promote continent wide security and wider economic
collaboration
i. Powerful symbol of potential political co-operation in Africa
ii. Developed reputation for being all talk, disbanded in 2002
b. African Union (AU) created as a replacement, was a regional
co-operation that proved to be more dynamic
c. Africa shouldnt been seen as a continent of inter-state conflict
but instead the violence viewed as an exception rather than the
norm
III. Superpowers, the Cold War and Africa
a. Vast majority of African countries gained their independence in
20 year period from 1955 to 1975 during this time politics was
dominated by the Cold War
b. Rivalries between East and West had an impact in Africa
c. The Communist Powers
i. USSR portrayed itself as a natural ally for the new
sovereign states of Africa b/c they hadnt been involved in
colonization of the continent
ii. Many African nations proclaimed themselves to be socialist
after independence which the Soviet Union promoted
trying to create a buffer zone on the continent as the USSR
had already done in Eastern Europe
iii. 1950s & 1960s Soviet policy towards Africa in =
pragmatic
iv. 1970s Soviet Union took a more active role
1. Wanted to assist with liberation struggles against
white minority governments in South Africa
2. Make a profit off of political instability created by
Portugals departure
v. Expansion of socialism = long term objective of Soviet
foreign policy
 vi. Improve strategic position in Africa = short term objective
vii. Over time they gained access to ports and airfields which
helped them monitor Western shipbuilding and activity
1. Africans benefitted from relationship b/c charged
rent which was mainly paid through the supply of
arms
viii. Cuba also heavily involved in promotion of socialism on
continent
1. Africans less suspicious of them b/c a 3rd world
country
2. As a result, thousands dispatched to Africa
ix. Peoples Republic of China also heavily involved in Africa
during Cold War rival of USSR socialism
1. Build the TanZam railway in 1975 linked Central
Africa (Zambia to Tanzania)
d. The Western Powers
i. United States
1. Global containment of communism = primary foreign
goal of the United States during Cold War
2. Despite the USs limited economic and strategic
interests in Africa, they were courted in order to help
stop potential Soviet expansion
3. Main clients of US = Zaire, Morocco, Ethiopia,
Somalia and Kenya
4. Sought to back moderate groups while disbanding
radical factions
ii. Britain
1. Less inclined to intervene wanted a low key policy
2. Helped Kenya, Uganda put down army mutinies but
were isolated events in 1964
iii. France
1. Maintained a close relationship with a number of
African countries after decolonization
2. France saw itself as having a rich civilization and had
a duty to spread their culture overseas mission
civilisatrice
3. Influence so successful that several states like
Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire associated themselves
with la Francophonie or commonwealth of France
4. French success attributed to 3 things people,
money and force close, familial ties
5. Paid twice as much in financial support than any
other donor
IV. The Impact of the Cold War on African Politics
a. International patron-client relationships emerged as a result of
new sovereign governments of Africa
b. Client regimes could use their sovereign authority to play one
patron off against another
c. Seen as a second scramble for Africa
 d. Material support given to African nations made a considerable
difference in the status of the continents regimes
e. Conflicts in Africa that became internationalized by Cold War
intervention were particularly difficult to quell whereas before the
indigenous parties could have come to an agreement based on
local bargaining
i. Fighting continued at a rate that local resources along
could not have sustained
V. Africa and the New World Order
a. 1990s Moscow lost its grip on Eastern Europe Soviet Union
disintegrated, abandoning socialism Cold War had ended
b. President Bush declared a new world order at his
commencement
i. Transitory period
c. The Cessation of Proxy Wars
i. Immediate effect of Soviet Unions demise = end of proxy
wars
1. Conflict resolution based on local realities became
possible
d. Africa downgraded strategically
i. End of Cold War dramatically affected the flow of external
resources to the continents governments
ii. With no conflict, the West strategically downgraded Africa
e. Political conditions tied to external aid
i. Western aid didnt completely dry up in New World Order
ii. A humanitarian disaster would have resulted if aid
completely gone
iii. African governments now had to do more for their money
1. Aid wouldnt come to hose who had an authoritarian
approach without accepting an evolution towards
democracy
f. A more muted but continued French presence
i. Funeral of Felix Houphouet-Boigny, president of Cote
dIvoire = symbolic of changing relationship between
French and its former colonies in the New World Order
ii. Idea of chasse gardee is still present Paris reserves the
right to intervene in order to maintain its influence and
interests
iii. Selective in criticism of its authoritarian behavior
g. A renewed British interest
i. United Kingdom showed greater political interest in Africa
during New World Order used diplomatic voice to call
upon Africa to change
ii. Helped to get Africa out of their debt problem in return
they committed themselves to programs of good
governance and poverty reduction
h. Chinas diplomatic and economic offensive
i. China is most concerned with New World Order
ii. Agenda = capitalism
 iii. Most of growing trade can be explained by Chinas search
for raw materials
iv. Have become a major partner in oil exploration and
production
v. Africa also important as a destination for its manufactured
goods and service industries
vi. Argued that Chinas approach is neo-colonial while
undermining potential liberal democratic gains
vii. Ex: Zimbabwe and Sudan benefit from Chinas amoral
approach to international relations

Case Studies:

I. Kenya
II. Nigeria
III. Tanzania
IV. Rwanda
V. Cote dIvoire
VI. Botswana
VII. Somalia
a. Background Info:
i. Population: 10.5 million
ii. Colonial Power: Britain/Italy
iii. Independence: 1960
iv. Main ethnic groups: Somali
1. 5 major clan families
b. Somalia forms the horns of the East
c. Somali are traditionally nomadic, rely on herding goats, sheep,
cattle
d. One of Africas most homogeneous countries
i. References go back as far as 15th century
e. 1960 British and Italian territories merged under one by mutual
agreement to form the Somali Democratic Republic
i. Seen as a starting point towards a Somaliland where all
people would be included
ii. Somali republic dependent upon external actors at
independence and remained so throughout post-colonial
period
iii. No industrial base for economy government had to
attract capital from abroad
iv. Most of the costs of Somalis development projects were
met by foreign donors
v. 1969 = military coup led by Major General Siad Barre
1. Prompted by diverse nature of external patrons
2. 1969 election had 1,002 candidates with 62 parties
competing for only 123 seats in the major assembly
which is what led to Barres coup said all these
people were a waste of time
 3. Barres regime used social scientism as its ideological
guide
4. Domestic and foreign businesses were nationalized
5. Land strictly controlled by the state
6. Single Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party
established
7. Created alliance with Soviet Union in 1974 with the
Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation (Somalia
got military aid, Soviet Union got material and
military resources
8. Despite alliance with Soviet Union, Barre still courted
Islamic countries and joined the Arab League in 1974
9. Relationship with Soviet faded when Somalia invaded
Ethiopia in 1978 Somalia sought to cause
revolution in Ethiopia and switch to aid from the US
who had just withdrawn from Ethiopia
10. Ended up failing to gain support from US
because of human rights Barres government
never returned to way it was in 70s
f. 1992 = Somalia collapsed NGOs reported deaths of 50,000
somalis and 4.5 million further at risk of famine
i. UN decided to put it on humanitarian aid watch
ii. Initially aid went well until 23 Pakistani peacekeepers were
killed
iii. October 1993 = Black hawk down, US helicopter shot down
and 18 US rangers killed
iv. State completely collapsed with no legitimacy
g. Somalia only just getting back on its feet
i. In the north, clan alliances seek to build an alternative
state, the Republic of Somalia
1. Havent received external recognition
ii. External powers favor the Mogadishu national unity
administration gaining authority due to help of military
interventions
1. Needs assistance from external backers to
compensate for sovereignty that it cant generate
across its territory and society by itself