December 1

• Africa: Avoiding Past Pitfalls in a Future Peace Deal With the M23 [analysis]

  The recent fall of Goma has starkly highlighted the shaky foundations of the 'peace architecture' that was built in the wake of the Second Congo War (1998-2002). Briefly, it once... Read more »

November 29

• Congo-Kinshasa: Kabila in a Catch-22 With M23 [analysis]

  As reported last week, the DRC's Eastern city of Goma fell on Tuesday November 20th. The next day M23 took Sake, 25 km to the west. Many people now expected this to be the first... Read more »

November 27

• Congo-Kinshasa: UK, US Should Help End World's Worst War [analysis]

  Africa is covered in epithets, like graffiti. It has been labelled dark, lost, hopeless. But generalisations about Africa are dangerous. The only certainty is its size: it could... Read more »

November 22

• Congo-Kinshasa: A Tale of War, Rebellion and Dreadful Peace Agreements [analysis]

  On Thursday November 15th 'M23' - the rebellion movement which was created earlier this year - launched a major attack on the city of Goma which, after a quieter day on Friday,... Read more »

November 21

• Congo-Kinshasa: The Fall of Goma [analysis]

  When the provincial capital of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo fell to rebel forces yesterday, the rapidity of the rebel advance was shocking, but the fait... Read more »

October 12

• Congo-Kinshasa: Crisis in East Deflects Attention From Need for Reforms From Kinshasa [analysis]

  The current crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) North and South Kivu provinces is yet another episode in the epic conflict that has engulfed the region since the... Read more »

September 4

• Africa: Where Families Seek to Rule [analysis]

  Why are there still so many monarchies among the 193 states of the world? 44 countries have heads of state from a single family under a primogeniture system. But it is hard to find... Read more »

August 7

• Rwanda: Kagame Is a Dictator - But Kinshasa Is Culpable [opinion]

  Ken Opalo wrote an interesting response to Richard Dowden's piece, Kagame and Congo: how long can he deny Rwandan involvement in the East? on his own blog http://kenopalo.com/ We... Read more »

August 2

• Congo-Kinshasa: The Continuing Trouble With the Congo [analysis]

  The situation in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo has deteriorated significantly since the end of the transition to peace and democracy in late 2006. Read more »

July 30

• East Africa: Violence in the Eastern Congo - Rwanda Fights to Maintain Economic Control of the Region [analysis]

  An army mutiny that began in the eastern DRC last April has now become extremely serious with the creation of thousands of refugees and much controversy over who is behind the... Read more »

July 18

• Congo-Kinshasa: How Long Can Rwanda Deny Involvement in the East? [analysis]

  Questioned last week on the BBC's Hardtalk about the connection between Rwanda and the M23 rebel movement in eastern Congo, President Paul Kagame denied all involvement. Read more »

July 13

• Africa: Big Men, African Conflicts and Informal Power [book review]

  Taking up the call made by a number of recent contributions to the peace- and state-building literatures to 'see what's there' (as opposed to seeing 'what's missing' or 'what... Read more »

July 11

• Congo-Kinshasa: Fizi to Goma Via Bukavu (then Kinshasa) - Kris Berwouts Goes On the Road in Congo [opinion]

  I spent the last twenty days of June in the Congo. Most of that time, I visited people and communities at grass root level. In brief, I went to Fizi - Baraka - Uvira - Bukavu -... Read more »

July 10

• Central Africa: Rwanda in Congo - Sixteen Years of Intervention [analysis]

  A recent UN report on the crisis in eastern DRC indicates that senior members of the Rwandan military have been supporting Congo's newest rebel outfit, M23. Such revelations hold... Read more »

June 7

• Congo-Kinshasa: Armed Groups Carry Out Ethnic Massacres [analysis]

  The 2012 crisis in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo became headline news in April as Bosco Ntaganda, an International Criminal Court indictee, staged a mutiny from... Read more »

May 19

• Congo-Kinshasa: Kabila Turns On His Friends [analysis]

  As the rumour mill turns and suspicion runs rife, conflict is unfolding in eastern Congo's Kivu provinces once again, following three years of relative calm. Read more »

April 12

• Congo-Kinshasa: What's Next for the DRC? Looking Ahead [analysis]

  In the aftermath of the 2011 presidential and parliamentary elections, which could be most charitably described as 'chaotic,' many Congolese voters, Diaspora members, and... Read more »

April 10

• Africa: Africa's Lord of War [analysis]

  The Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, known widely as 'the merchant of death', was sentenced to 25 years in jail by a New York judge on 5th April. In addition, Bout will have to... Read more »

March 22

• Central African Republic: The Lubanga Verdict - a Milestone in the Fight Against Impunity? [analysis]

  Thomas Lubanga at the International Criminal court where he was convicted for recruiting and commanding child soldiers. Read more »

March 20

• Africa: How Kony Survives and Obasanjo's One Man Peace Mission [analysis]

  Invisible Children's StopKony video that has recently created a sudden storm on the web shows what might have been done at any time in the last 20 years. Read more »

March 15

• Central Africa: Kony - What's to Be Done? [opinion]

  As a critic of the KONY2012 campaign, I have been asked the eminently practical question, "so what would you do about Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army?" Let me take this... Read more »

March 14

• Congo-Kinshasa: Warlord's Conviction Has Far-Reaching Implications [analysis]

  It would be difficult to over-emphasise the importance of today's resounding "guilty" verdict in the trial of Congolese militia leader, Thomas Lubanga, at the International... Read more »

March 12

• Angola: Foreign Minister Asserts Govt Policy Strength and Business Potential [analysis]

  Angolan Foreign Minister Georges Chicoti's visit to London in late February allowed the minister to present a vivid picture of how his government, ten years after the civil war,... Read more »

March 11

• Central Africa: 'Elevating Kony to a Global Celebrity' [analysis]

  Put yourself in Joseph Kony's shoes: imagine you are a fugitive leader of a rebel band in the forests of central Africa, travelling on foot and avoiding encounter with any... Read more »

March 8

• Uganda: Kony Video Evokes 'Bygone Era' [analysis]

  Over the last few days millions of people have thronged to watch a video put together by the California based NGO and media company Invisible Children about one of the world's most... Read more »