On a Monday afternoon in October, in a warehouse in the southern Somali port of Kismayo, I attended a meeting on the future of Somalia. On one side: 20 Somali traders sitting on grass mats and wearing sandals, sarong-like wraps, …
Africa
Egypt’s Morsi: Has He Started Something He Can’t Finish?
The standoff is not only in Cairo but in cities and towns across the country. And the secularists are adamant that they will not talk unless he backs down completely
Libya’s New Crisis: A Wave of Assassinations Targeting Its Top Cops
When Muhammad bin Halim stepped out of his front door in Benghazi one September morning, he waved at his neighbor before walking toward his candy-apple-red Hyundai. When the head of the financial-crimes unit in the Libyan …
Defining Peacekeeping Downward: The U.N. Debacle in Eastern Congo
As the people of Goma fled rebels, they were greeted by the sight of U.N. peacekeepers — fleeing ahead of them
Sudan: Is Bashir’s Regime Crumbling?
As economic woes deepen, many observers suspect that Bashir, subject of a war-crime indictment at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, will face an internal power struggle that he may not survive.
The Benghazi Attack’s Person of Continuing Interest
Ahmad Abu Khattallah has been linked to the incident again and again. But more than two months after, he has yet to be officially interrogated. TIME conducts several interviews with one of Benghazi’s most intriguing people
Can Mauritania’s President Survive Both Coup Plotters and al-Qaeda?
For Presidents, one rule of thumb for political survival is not to leave your country for too long, especially if you are thinking of waging a regional war against al-Qaeda militants. That seemed to be the thinking for …
Congo’s Crisis: Rebels Launch Offensive in Country’s East
In the war-torn, mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo, rebels belonging to an armed group known as the M23 have launched a devastating offensive against the government of President Joseph Kabila, capturing the main …
Congo’s Eastern Rebels Seize Goma: Will Rwanda Then Take Over?
When I spent a few days with the M23 rebels of eastern Congo in August, they were clear that their April mutiny against the Congolese army and seizure of territory along the Rwandan and Ugandan borders was essentially a form of …
Benghazi’s Real Scandal: Why Is the Libyan Investigation Such a Mess?
As the Benghazi episode takes center stage in Washington, questions loom over why the Libyans have bungled the investigation
France Recognizes Syria’s Opposition—Will the West Follow Suit?
French President François Hollande becomes the first Western leader to recognize the newly-formed coalition leadership of Syrian rebel forces, and ups pressure on other nations to follow his lead.
Mali’s Militiamen: A Country Split in Two Readies for War
In the districts abutting Mali’s vast north, war looms. In 2012, locals and others forced to flee the conquest of Mali’s north by rebel factions and Islamist groups linked with al-Qaeda are readying to be part of an offensive to …
Mali’s Looming War: Will Military Intervention Drive Out the Islamists?
As the West and regional partners scramble to launch an offensive to reclaim Mali’s north, will the Islamists and rebel factions there budge?