Winners and losers in Libya: Western companies win, Chinese lose

By James M. Dorsey

The winners and losers in the competition for post-Qaddafi reconstruction contracts are starting to emerge as rebel officials turn their attention to rebuilding their nation’s severely damaged oil industry even as they are posed to attack the former Libyan leader’s last remaining…

Sunday, September 4, 2011

China scores fatal own goals in competition for post-Qaddafi Libya

By James M. Dorsey

China has scored two near fatal own goals in the race for influence and lucrative contracts in oil-rich post-Qaddafi Libya.

A document disclosed this weekend testifies to China preparing to supply as late as July weapons in violation of United Nations sanctions…

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24354

 …

JAMES M. DORSEY

Thursday, August 25, 2011

By James M. Dorsey

China and Russia would do well to take a leaf out of Turkey’s playbook in trying to recover lost ground with Libyan rebels taking control of their country even though Colonel Moammar Qaddafi remains at large.

Turkey like China and Russia alongside India, Brazil and South Africa initially opposed foreign military intervention in Libya. But unlike the others Turkey reversed its position early on and became a member of the Libya…

The Georgetown University and Generations For Peace Summer Research Fellows have all returned to DC after three months in the field. As we begin to digest our research and experiences, we wanted to share a piece of our journey with you.

What was the most surprising thing you found?

From Amanda Munroe: 

Connection! I was surprised (and encouraged!) to find out how well the organizations and the academics I was interviewing were…

Wednesday, August 22

By James M. Dorsey

Significant advances by NATO-backed Libyan rebels seeking to oust Colonel Moammar Qaddafi pose a significant policy challenge for China and Russia that could prompt a rethinking of their support for autocratic leaders in the Middle East and North Africa.

As Russia and China scramble to improve strained relations with the rebels and salvage future commercial ties in the wake of the fall of…

In response to an earlier post on how-matters.org, “Sorry but it’s not YOUR project,” a reader offered the following guest post. Andebo Pax Pascal shares his experience as an aid worker in Africa’s newest country.



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My friend Tom is working for “Aid Agency X”, which has prided itself in working ‘with’ and not ‘for’ the people, a sign that it is ready to involve the community in its development…

[For Immediate Release] Rights Activists Call for Effective Human Rights Mechanism in South Asia and Civil Society Participation in SAARC (Kathmandu, 27 July 2011) The Second Sub-Regional Workshop on Human Rights Mechanism in South Asia concluded with the calls for the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to establish an effective regional human rights mechanism, enhance civil society’s participation in the SAARC process and address challenges faced by the region from the…

On the East African Federation

Mahmood Mamdani

'East Africa has two post-colonial traditions of citizenship', writes Mahmood Mamdani: territorial and ethnic. If the region is to have a political federation, it will need to be based on a common citizenship, he argues: 'Which one will it be?'

I became interested in the question of why the old community collapsed after I returned to Uganda from the University of Dar es Salaam in 1979. I spent months reading…

WE THE PEOPLE OF THE LOTE LAND

Basil Peutalo,

Founder and Director

Freedom Sustainable

Livelihood Foundation (FSLF) 

A. WE THE MELKOI PEOPLE

We are the Lote language speaking people called the

Melkois. Our geophysical identity is called such after one of the three or so big

rivers that demarcate and intersperse our land. The Lote…

Crisis in South Kordofan

Fast option for international assistance

RATIONALE

The crisis in South Kordofan shows the limits of outside influence by the…

Race, class and transformation in South Africa

Sehlare Makgetlaneng

How can the race question not be one of the key issues of concern for those who are for a better life for all South Africans? asks Sehlare Makgetlaneng.

There has been a dialectical and organic link between the class question and the race question in South Africa from the period since the inception of capitalism to the present post-settler colonial era of the country. Capitalism since its…

Special thanks to Michael Southcott for his submissions.

• President Hugo Chavez of Venezuelaspent nearly two weeks  recovering from surgery in Cuba after swelling in his pelvis and has been out of public sight since, causing much speculation  that he may be seriously…

News reports are full of reports of violence in South Kordofan, but peace still exists in many places. Despite escalating violence, communities historically involved in the conflict are rejecting violence. Despite escalating violence, communities historically involved in the conflict are rejecting violence. …

Many thanks to those of you who have read and commented on my post on sport and peacebuilding in South Africa. There has been a lively discussion about the merits of such work and the importance of local ownership.

If you are interested in what our Georgetown Generations for Peace summer fellows are doing, please tune in to the Doug Noll show tomorrow (Thursday, June 9th) at 7pm Pacific time. Our research team will be fielding questions about our work in Northern Ireland,…

Poverty....disease... gender inequity.. illiteracy... drug and alcohol abuse... unemployment... resource differentials...race conflict... religion... historical inequalities and legacies of oppression. When one thinks about the potential drivers of conflict in a country like South Africa, these are often the first issues that come to mind. But when I asked Dr. Marion Keim in a recent interview what she would say were…