By John Price, Thursday October 3, 2013 The Federal Republic of Somalia was ruled by the brutal dictator Siad Barre until 1991, when a coalition of warlords deposed him. Shortly thereafter the U.S. embassy in the capital Mogadishu was shuttered, leaving a diplomatic void for over twenty-two years. Warlords and their clans started fighting for control […]
Read MoreObama to Assad: Weapons Cache must be Verifiable, or there will be Consequences
By John Price, Tuesday September 17, 2013 On Friday President Barrack Obama told Kuwait’s Emir Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah that any diplomatic solution in Syria depended on President Bashar al-Assad listing all of the chemical weapons in his arsenal, and signing on to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Secretary of State John Kerry echoing the president’s […]
Read MoreObama’s line in the sand may prove to be a quagmire
By John Price, Monday September 9, 2013 President Barrack Obama in making his case for a military strike against Syria stated that Bashar al-Assad had used deadly nerve agents against his people. Politicos around the world however are not convinced that the U.S. and UN inspectors have pinpointed exactly who used the chemical weapons last […]
Read MoreMali’s recovery depends on international donors
By John Price, Friday August 30, 2013 In Mali’s recent presidential election Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was declared the winner, garnering over 78 percent of the vote. President Barrack Obama in congratulating Mr. Keita noted, “The election was a first step in restoring democracy”. In The Hill article last week President Obama stated that Mr. Keita needs […]
Read MoreMali’s elected president must unite the country
By John Price, Monday August 19, 2013 Mali’s second-round presidential election runoff on August 11 ended without major incident. The ministry for territorial administration on Monday reported that the voter turnout was 46 percent, slightly less than voter participation in the first-round. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the former prime minister from 1994 to 2000, was the […]
Read MoreAl-Qaeda has not been decimated
By John Price, Thursday August 15, 2013 In my May 2012 article, “The Republic of Yemen: Al-Qaeda’s backyard” I highlighted concerns about al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and the instability that these Islamists could create in the region. Osama bin Laden had family ties to the Kindite clan in Yemen. As a young man he […]
Read MoreRepublicans Abroad Radio
Republicans Abroad Radio – The Voice of Americans Overseas with Ambassador John Price on Wednesday August 7, 2013, replay: http://www.wsradio.com/wsradio/show_details/32 Segment 1 and Segment 2.
Read MoreU.S. Embassies are our first line of defense
By John Price, Tuesday August 6, 2013 Last Thursday the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the “Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty Embassy Security, Threat Mitigation, and Personnel Protection Act of 2013”, named after the four Americans killed by Islamists at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The attacks reinforced the fact that the State Department failed […]
Read MoreMali’s first round election results announced
By John Price, Friday August 2, 2013 On Friday morning August 2, the Minister of Administration Moussa Sinko announced the results of the first-round in Mali’s July 28 presidential election. The former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta also known by his nickname IBK received 39 percent of the vote, with Soumaïla Cissé a former finance […]
Read MoreMali’s “old guard” set to win presidential election
By John Price, Monday July 29, 2013 The French press on Sunday night reported that Mali’s presidential election turnout was surprisingly heavy in the capital Bamako, and in the surrounding towns. In the northern area the town of Gao had a modest turnout while in Kidal, the Tuareg separatist stronghold, few voters showed up at […]
Read MoreMali faces challenges before the Sunday election
Commentary/Opinion: By John Price, Friday July 26, 2013 The ink is barely dry on the June 18 peace accord between the Malian government and the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad (MNLA), and ethnic violence erupted last weekend in Kidal, the MNLA stronghold. The government quickly accused Tuaregs of committing attacks in which […]
Read MoreMali’s elections need to be inclusive
By John Price, Friday July 19, 2013 By U.S. standards there are few free, fair and transparent elections that take place in Africa. Cries of foul-play, or a boycott by candidates should not mar the election process. If every time there is a request to postpone an election very few would be held. The first […]
Read More