Africa

At the Second India-Africa Forum Summit held in Addis Ababa, India’s relations with African countries have got a boost with the various cooperation initiatives unveiled by the Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh.

India has embarked on a policy to balance its need for accessing strategic energy resources from the African continent with Africa's aspirations for greater skills and sustainable development. Sudan has turned out to be the gateway for India's energy quest in Africa. India's age-old ties with Sudan have been crucial in accessing oil from the country. New Delhi's close relations helped to assuage the initial hiccups

South African President Jacob Zuma has affirmed the mutually beneficial economic relationship between China and Africa, including with his country, notwithstanding the negative sides to this relationship. It is clear that China’s role in Africa is changing the terms of engagement with the region. That is perhaps the biggest challenge for India and the rest of the world in their future Africa strategy.

The entry into force of the Africa’s Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty or the Treaty of Pelindaba in July 2009 and the first conference of parties on November 4, 2010… Continue reading NBC Weapons: How free is Africa of the scourge?

Focusing on specific sectors, beyond the options much in vogue with offensive emulationists or passive singularists, will help India to clarify its priorities, optimize its policy-making process and infuse its Africa policy with greater strategic depth.

This paper seeks to understand the nature of cooperation between the UN and other IGOs in ongoing conflicts. It will examine the security framework in which these multilateral arrangements were created, the gaps they were trying to cover, and the problems and areas of opportunities.

AFRICOM is a new institution representing the new manner of US engagement. This is different from the EU model of engagement and comes at a time when India and China are seen as important partners of Africa. This paper is written to provide an insight into AFRICOM from an Indian perspective of Africa. This differs from the EU view and also from Africa's own response. US policy towards Africa consists of African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) + AFRICOM; whereas AGOA is better understood, AFRICOM is not. This paper proposes to fill some of the gaps in its understanding.

African militaries have only recently emerged from colonial rule and several decades of Cold War gaming by superpowers. As the continent continues to be riddled with wars, these armies have been an essential part of the problem and the solution. Their evolution over the time has occurred in waves of progress and arrest. While it is impossible to generalize about the entire continent's military apparatus, this paper highlights some of the larger trends that have emerged out of this evolutionary process.

Despite the concerns surrounding the use of mercenaries, they remain an indispensable force on the African continent, so much so that they have been welcomed by governments, and grudgingly even been accepted by NGOs, international organizations and civilians.

Across the globe, a crucial but largely unseen and unheard of force in the Global War on Terrorism is emerging – young, hardened, militant, radicalized recruits from Africa – a force potent enough to compel governments to revise their handbooks on how best to contend with Islamic extremism.