African Union Publications
Women, Muslim Laws and Human Rights in Nigeria: A Keynote Address
Jul 19, 2011What is the meaning of Shari’a law? How can we understand its implementation in different contexts, given the diversity in the practice of Islam in Africa and around the globe? What are the elements of Shari’a that are particularly relevant to the position of women and gender relations in the African nation(s) under consideration? more
Election Observation Missions: Making them Count
Jul 19, 2011International election observation is a work in progress, much like the international democratic system it aims to promote and develop. Today
election observation is disproportionately focused on the pre-election and election periods at the expense of the post-election period. International
organizations, national governments, and civil society are familiar with what is expected both before and during an election. Election “practices” exist and an international set of principles is now emerging to guide international elections
observers both before and during elections. more
The ANC and Post-Apartheid South Africa Quo Vadis: One Hundred Years Going on Twenty
Jul 15, 2011The advent of democracy in 1994 came with the
promise of a society whose race, political, economic
and social relations would be the antithesis of what
they had been under apartheid. The post-apartheid
order would deliver what the ANC calls “a better life
for all.” What has happened since the ANC came to
power can best be summarized in three ways: First,
there has been some improvement in the political,
social and economic conditions of the majority.
Second, democratic, policy and delivery deficits have
emerged. more
Trade & Economic Development
Jul 14, 2011This paper is intended to promote discussion as to the role that trade can play in speeding development in Africa and the possible steps that can be taken to enable Africa to participate more fully in the global market. It does not cover all the barriers to expanding trade by African
countries. Other important topics – notably infrastructure, especially ports and roads, and corruption – are discussed in other conference papers. It also does not include issues that are not directly related to trade and which can only be dealt with in the longer term, such as improved
health and education, which were critical components of the success of the Asian “tigers”. more
Conflict and Cooperation: Making the Case for Environmental Pathways to Peacebuilding in the Great Lakes Region
Jul 07, 2011Policy paper on ways in which natural resource cooperation can lead to peace in Central Africa more
Environmental Peacemaking
Jul 07, 2011How can environmental cooperation be used to bolster regional peace? A large body of research suggests that environmental degradation may catalyze violent conflict. Environmental cooperation, in contrast, has gone almost unexplored as a means of peacemaking, even though it opens several effective channels: enhancing trust, establishing habits of cooperation, lengthening the time horizons of decisionmakers, forging cooperative trans-societal linkages, and creating shared regional norms and identities.More about this title can be found on the Wilson Center Press website. more
Beyond Free and Fair: Monitoring Elections and Building Democracy
Jul 07, 2011Beyond Free and Fair Elections: Monitoring Elections and Building Democracy draws on worldwide experience since the mid-1980s to evaluate international election monitoring and domestic monitoring, and their contributions to democracy promotion and democratic change. In this book, Eric Bjornlund provides an overview of what election monitoring is, where it comes from, and how it is currently conducted, and he educes general lessons for democracy promotion. Björnlund reports on actual practice, including case studies of particular election monitoring efforts and the author's own experience in the field, and on a few previous efforts to synthesize guidelines and lessons learned.More about this title can be found on the Wilson Center Press website. more
Governance on the Ground: Innovations and Discontinuities in the Developing World
Jul 07, 2011Governance on the Ground shows people at a local level working through municipal institutions to take more responsibility for their own lives and environment. This study reports what social scientists in eight local networks found when they chose their own subjects for a worldwide comparative study of institutional reform at the local level. Governance on the Ground is the culminating product of the Global Urban Research Initiative, a major 1990s research effort that created a worldwide network of some 400 social scientistsMore about this title can be found on the Wilson Center Press website. more
Towards Tolerance, Law and Dignity: Addressing Violence against Foreign Nationals in South Africa
Jul 07, 2011Although violence against foreign nationals and other ‘outsiders’ has been a longstanding feature of post-Apartheid South Africa, the intensity and scale of the May 2008 attacks were extraordinary. What started off as an isolated incidence of antiforeigner violence in Alexandra on 11 May, quickly spread to other townships and informal settlements across the country. more
Two Views on the Crisis in Sudan
Jul 07, 2011Sudan faces multiple crises. The CPA, which ended the southern conflict, has not been fully implemented. International support has been patchy. Demarcation of the North/South border has again been postponed.
Preparations for the southern and Abyei referenda, due to be held in January, are well behind schedule, as are the popular consultations in Blue Nile and South Kordofan, where state elections have been put off until November. Inter-tribal conflict troubles the South. more
