Michael Nelson

My first day of classes back at Wesleyan is done.  I was a little worried about my energy levels when my daughter, Sophie, woke me up this morning at 3:45 am!  But the natural energy that comes with the onset of a new semester more than carried me through!
As usual, I’m very impressed by the [...]

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BBC NEWS | Africa | Nigerian ‘trained in Afghanistan’.

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk
Nigerian ‘trained in Afghanistan’

Abdulrasheed Abubakar was paraded by police to make his statement

A member of the Nigerian Islamist sect behind a deadly uprising in July has confessed to receiving military training in Afghanistan, police say.The member of the sect known locally as Boko Haram and [...]

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The Wall Street Journal (clip below), CNN and a number of other sources are reporting that at least 100 Africans were involved in protests over immigration enforcement in China.  The spark was apparently the death of a Nigerian who was killed during an immigration raid.
China’s increasing ties with Africa is a subject that I am [...]

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An old Peace Corps friend posted this link on Facebook.  It reminded me of the work I did as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana.  In many parts of rural Africa it is still normal to have no access to a toilet or latrine, and it is still normal to get water from unsafe sources.  [...]

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clipped from news.bbc.co.uk
On Thursday, the minister for humanitarian assistance, Haroun Lual Ruun, said Khartoum would allow those UN agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) remaining in Darfur to “expand their existing operations”.

I think what we’re hearing… is that new NGOs with new names, new logos, if necessary, can come in

John Holmes UN humanitarian [...]

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So, Zuma has officially done it.  He is President of South Africa. It will be interesting to see what impact he has.  Will those who threatened to leave South Africa really leave?  Will he be successful with his populist agenda?
I was able to meet him at a lunch at UC Berkeley a little over a [...]

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The BBC reports that the liberation of Paris in 1944 was carefully orchestrated to be “whites only”.  Apparently, this was an American idea. So when De Gaulle wanted to have a French division lead the liberation, he had to remove the West African soldiers (which reportedly formed 65% of Free French Forces) from the division [...]

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The G20 has a lot of issues on its plate and at the top of the list, obviously, is the on-going financial crisis.  I have already commented on the problems African countries face in getting their voices heard. On that point, Africa may have an ally in Pope Benedict who, recently returned from his Africa [...]

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Spanish Court Weighs Inquiry on Torture for 6 Bush-Era Officials from the NY Times.  Judge Baltasar Garzon is at it again. He was the Spanish judge who ordered the arrrest of former Chilean dictator Pinochet. He also has looked into the activities of Basque separatists and the executions of the Franco era.  This time, due [...]

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In my Africa in World Politics class this week, I’ve been talking about the role of African states in global economic governance. This has been a focus of my own research, stressing the important roles coalitions can play, but how those roles are strongly influenced by the institutional and strategic environments that states operate in.  [...]

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