The Washington Post In the aftermath of the war in Iraq and as the U.S. military withdraws from Afghanistan, the Pentagon is shifting its fleet of drones to other global hot spots. Among them is Turkey, where the Air Force operates four unarmed Predator drones from Incirlik Air Base. U.S. shifts drones to new frontiers…
2nd century AD – Kingdom of Axum becomes a regional trading power. 4th century – Coptic Christianity introduced from Egypt. King Ezana’s Stele: One of the 1700-year old obelisks erected by the Kingdom of Axum Ethiopia unveils ancient obelisk 1530-31 – Muslim leader Ahmad Gran conquers much of Ethiopia. 1818-68 – Lij Kasa conquers…
The Huffington Post BLOG By Alastair Crooke BEIRUT — The dramatic arrival of Da’ish (ISIS) on the stage of Iraq has shocked many in the West. Many have been perplexed — and horrified — by its violence and its evident magnetism for Sunni youth. But more than this, they find Saudi Arabia’s ambivalence in the…
አእምሮ አእምሮ Newspaper was established during Emperor Menelik’s time. The first ever issue was distributed in and around 1889 and was written in the Amharic language. The newspaper was weekly and the first ever issue had 24 copies. It was the fisrt modern newspaper in Africa by African language. After Amharic, the second earliest modern…
African Arguments “Unlike all previous governments our writ runs in every village” – By Richard Dowden RAS Director Richard Dowden interviewed Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles on May 12th 2012. What follows is a selection of quotes from the interview on subjects ranging from democracy to the demise of Muammar Gadaffi and ‘land grabbing.’ To read Richard’s…
Geopolitical Monitor 1. China-India: The Brahmaputra River The Brahmaputra River is a 2,900 km river that originates in Tibet and flows through India’s Arunachal Pradesh state before merging with the Ganges and draining into the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh. It is considered an important resource in all three countries that it flows through: for…
The Washington Post By Katie Park, Kevin Schaul and Gene Thorp After Flight 17 was shot down in eastern Ukraine on July 17, the Federal Aviation Administration expanded an existing regulation that prohibited certain flights from operating in the region. The FAA regularly issues airspace restrictions and prohibitions for U.S. aircraft traveling through potentially hostile…
BI Foreign Policy magazine has released its annual ranking of the world’s least-stable countries, now known as the Fragile State Index. The rankings are based on 12 metrics, including access to public services, the prevalence of refugees and internally displaced persons, human rights, and the legitimacy of the state. It is no surprise that the Scandinavian…
HRW Ethiopian-anti-terror-law pdf Summary This paper analyses Ethiopia’s draft Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (the draft Proclamation) and assesses to what extent the proposed law on its face conforms to international human rights standards. The draft law has been submitted to Parliament by the Council of Ministers and may be passed into law before the end of the current…
BI By Amanda Macias Desmond Boylan/Reuters A deactivated Soviet-era SS-4 medium range nuclear capable ballistic missile is displayed at La Cabana fortress in Havana October 13, 2012. According to a new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), nine nations — the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea — possess approximately 16,300…