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 MoreObama missing chance to promote trade in Africa
By John Price – SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES, Monday, July 1, 2013 ANALYSIS/OPINION: Africans anxiously awaited President Obama’s return to sub-Saharan Africa, but they may be disappointed when he leaves Wednesday unless he announces a major initiative to promote trade. Many remember his first trip — a 24-hour visit to Ghana in 2009. During […]
Read MoreMali elections need to be free, fair and transparent
By John Price, Special to The Washington Times, Sunday, June 30, 2013 ANALYSIS/OPINION: Mali’s interim government and ethnic Tuareg rebels last month signed a peace accord that will allow elections to proceed this month in the war-torn West African nation. International donors have committed $2.6 billion in aid to help rebuild Mali on the condition […]
Read MoreAfricans question purpose of Obama’s visit
By John Price – SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES, Sunday, June 23, 2013 ANALYSIS/OPINION: During my visits to Kenya, Mali, Ethiopia and Somalia over the past 12 months, I was told that U.S. influence is becoming less relevant because of our inconsistent foreign policy. African countries are depending more on China and other nations for […]
Read MoreReadying outpost in Djibouti for ‘rapid response’
By John Price – SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES, Sunday, June 16, 2013 ANALYSIS/OPINION: On May 30, Army Brig. Gen. Kimberly Field announced the formation of a new “rapid response force” to be established at Camp Lemonnier in the East African nation of Djibouti. It will be a force “specifically trained and ready to respond […]
Read MoreFrench president says Mali rebels will not mar July elections
By John Price – SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES, Wednesday, June 12, 2013 ANALYSIS/OPINION: French President Francois Hollande last week expressed confidence that Mali’s elections will be held in July despite the West African nation’s shaky security. The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), which controls Mali’s northern town of Kidal, has not […]
Read MoreU.S. unwisely ignores sub-Saharan Africa
The Washington Times ANALYSIS/OPINION African leaders are skeptical about President Obama’s engagement of sub-Saharan Africa, in part, because he has been there only once since becoming president, visiting Ghana in 2009 for less than 24 hours. What’s more, when Mali’s government called out for help to subdue Islamist extremists who had overrun the northern part […]
Read MoreSyria’s civil war is deja vu of regime change in Libya
By John Price – SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES, Thursday, May 16, 2013 ANALYSIS/OPINION The Arab Spring that prompted the ouster of authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya also led to the rise of Islamists who are bent on creating Islamic states that adhere to Shariah law — and that fate could await Syria […]
Read MoreState Department ‘must protect’ diplomats — and didn’t
State Department ‘must protect’ diplomats — and didn’t By John Price and The Washington Times, Monday, May 13, 2013 ANALYSIS/OPINION: Always unarmed, ambassadors often are protected only by the goodwill of the countries in which they serve. But when hostilities arise, when governments fall, when their very lives are threatened, ambassadors and their staffs can rely only […]
Read MoreAncient art in Somaliland in diplomatic limbo
Country’s unique status prohibits U.N. heritage protection for its caves The Washington Times ANALYSIS/OPINION By John Price, Wednesday, May 1, 2013 HARGEISA, Somaliland — The world’s most famous prehistoric art is in caverns in Europe, but the most recently discovered ancient cave paintings are in a country no other nation recognizes in a region of […]
Read MoreU.S. terrorist threat growing with new breed of jihadists
The Washington Times ANALYSIS/OPINION By John Price, Tuesday April 23, 2013 The influence of radical Islam is on the rise around the world — and in the United States. Mosques and Islamic schools called madrassas increasingly are teaching extreme, fundamentalist interpretations of the religion that presumably inspired the Chechen-born suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings. […]
Read MoreMali elections may be in trouble, if French troops leave
The Washington Times Mali elections may be in trouble, if French troops leave By John Price, Sunday April 21, 2013 Analysis/Opinion: In January, French President Francois Hollande responded to interim Malian President Dioncounda Traore’s urgent request for military help to keep Islamists from advancing to the capital, Bamako. Since then, the coalition of French and […]
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