News
Uniting Africa: Is Regional Integration Possible?
Jul 27, 2012One of the main obstacles to growth in Africa is the lack of intra-African trade and commerce. Africa Program Director Steven McDonald describes recent international efforts to encourage regional integration which he believes will accelerate economic growth, promote peace and stability, and support sustainable development goals.
The Darling Dictator of the Day
May 30, 2012In Rwanda, economic progress has come at the cost of democracy, with disenfranchisement especially high among youth, Wilson Center fellow Marc Sommers argues in a New York Times op-ed. President Paul Kagame’s virtual dictatorship may also be guilty of intimidating opposition politicians and journalists, Sommers says.
Women’s Leadership in Post-Conflict Liberia
May 24, 2012Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace played a major role in ending the nation’s 14-year civil war in 2003 and helped bring to power Liberia’s first female head of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Olubanke King-Akerele, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Johnson Sirleaf discusses her new book, her country and the special role that women play there.
Violence-plagued Horn of Africa in Need of Strategic Policy Vision
Feb 16, 2012The site of hundreds of armed conflicts in the past quarter century, the Horn of Africa has suffered from a single-minded policy focus that emphasizes short-term tactical objectives at the expense of an overarching strategic vision, Wilson Center expert Paul Williams argues. Author of the new report, "Horn of Africa: Webs of Conflict and Pathways to Peace," Williams believes the time is now for policymakers to reconsider long-term strategies of peace-building and conflict-resolution—measures, which, he says, can go further to root out the causes of violence.
Call for Papers: Reducing Urban Poverty
Jan 25, 2012The Comparative Urban Studies Project, USAID’s Urban Programs Team, the International Housing Coalition, the World Bank, and Cities Alliance are teaming up a third time to co-sponsor an academic paper competition for graduate and PhD level students focused on different challenges facing urban centers in the developing world.
The Wilson Center Honors Howard Wolpe
Jan 19, 2012The late Howard Wolpe, the Wilson Center's former Africa Program director, was remembered at a special memorial service that paid tribute to his career as a diplomat and legislator who fought for peace in Burundi and the end of apartheid in South Africa.
Book Preview: In "War and Conflict in Africa," GWU Scholar Skeptical That Natural Resources Play a Leading Role
Nov 30, 2011In "War and Conflict in Africa," Paul Williams evaluates which factors explain the frequency of conflict in Africa during the post-Cold War era and how the international community has tried to build peace and prevent future conflict.
In Memory of Howard...
Nov 04, 2011Donations in Howard’s memory are welcome, but the family would prefer that you do not send flowers or gifts to them. Howard saw the apex of his life’s work embodied in the post-conflict peace building and reconciliation programs in Africa that he initiated at the Woodrow Wilson Center in 2002, and would want that legacy to continue.
Remembering Howard Wolpe, the Tireless Peacemaker
Oct 28, 2011It was a life-long love between Howard and Africa, on both sides. I worked closely with Howard in the 1980s during the fight to pass the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act and to move South Africa to a just future, helping put him in touch with South African leaders inside and outside the country.
Burundi and the Struggle for Growth and Stability
Oct 07, 2011President Pierre Nkurunziza spoke of the fight to create the political and economic environment necessary in Burundi for investment, trade, and support from the international community.
