Western Advocacy in Conflict: The Democratic Republic of Congo
The ongoing crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where up to 6 million excess deaths have been recorded since 1998 and government neither controls nor governs its territory in a...
View ArticleReclaiming Activism
Reclaiming Activism For most of my adult life I introduced myself as an “activist” first and a writer, researcher, or practitioner of humanitarian action or peacemaking second. Then, about seven or...
View ArticleReclaiming Activism and Keeping It Honest – A comment on Alex de Waal’s...
Patrick Karuretwa is the Defense and Security Advisor to the President of Rwanda and a Fletcher alumnus. As I read Professor Alex de Waal’s perceptive piece on “Reclaiming Activism,” I thought I should...
View ArticleIn Defense of International Activists
I am responding to your two posts, about activism and the review of John Young’s book The Fate of Sudan. Defining activism, you believe one of the main tasks of activists is to challenge U.S. power,...
View ArticleDRC conflict minerals campaign failed to reduce violence while impoverishing...
I am a freelance writer and editor who has lived and worked off and on in central Africa for 25 years. I am writing to call your attention to this week’s Congressional hearing on Dodd-Frank 1502. Held...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Alex de Waal: the Rebirth of a Principled Activist?
Whenever Alex de Waal publishes analysis or reflections, Sudanese intellectuals and activists, and the concerned international institutions and individuals, give it priority attention. The last week of...
View ArticleSome Critical Reflections on Activism and Sudan: A Reply to Monim
Dear Monim, I have long argued that humanitarians and human rights activists should embrace critical self-reflection including acknowledging their mistakes (see my piece, originally entitled “Writing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mockery in Sochi? Thoughts on the Efficacy of Protest
Alex de Waal The British actor and writer Stephen Fry, who is gay, has caused a storm by demanding that the Winter Olympics be moved elsewhere or boycotted, because of recent Russian legislation...
View ArticleThe Responsibilities of an Activist in a Global Political Order
Summary of Keynote Address at the conference, The Social Practice of Human Rights: Charting the frontiers of research and advocacy, University of Dayton, Ohio, October 4, 2013. In this presentation I...
View ArticleMaking Sense of the Protests in Khartoum
In the ten days following September 23, Sudanese cities witnessed the largest anti-government protests in many years. Many of the protesters aimed to bring down the government; others sought a reversal...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Amnesia: Iraq on the horizon of civilian protection issues
For more detailed explanation of this data and graphic see Iraq Body Count. If it weren’t for the cruel stakes of the violence, U.S. policy in Iraq would form the perfect parody of the idea that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Difficult Questions at the End of the Week
The below statement is from our colleagues at Tactical Technology Collective. It is unusual for Tactical Tech to comment on a current, political event; however, the attack on the artists and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Kabila: Release the Congolese Activists
I would like to introduce you to Sylvain Mbiye (Mushiba) Saluseke. He is the husband of a friend of mine, and a Congolese civil society activist. I introduce you to him because he has been detained...
View ArticleDo-gooders, do no harm: What are the best–and worst–ways to help those mired...
Laura Seay with Alex de Waal, From The Washington Post, July 17, 2015, Monkey Cage In today’s hyper-connected world, it’s easier than ever for those who live thousands of miles away from a conflict...
View ArticleOn the photo of three-year old Aylan Kurdi
I spent ten years working on issues related to contemporary genocide at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, including developing an exhibition on genocide that presented brief histories of Rwanda,...
View ArticleAdvocacy In Conflict
To mark the publication of Advocacy In Conflict: Critical perspectives on transnational activism, ed. Alex de Waal with Jennifer Ambrose, Casey Hogle, Teisha Taneja, and Keren Yohanne (London: Zed...
View ArticleGenealogies of transnational activism
We continue to offer you an inside glimpse of the new WPF book, Advocacy In Conflict: Critical perspectives on transnational activism, with an excerpt from Chapter 2 by Alex de Waal. The volume was...
View ArticleBurma’s Struggle for Democracy: A Critical Appraisal
Below is an excerpt from “Burma’s Struggle for Democracy: A Critical Appraisal” by Maung Zarni with Trisha Taneja, the third chapter of the new WPF book, Advocacy In Conflict: Critical perspectives on...
View ArticleWhat Does the Head of UN Peacekeeping Read?
Occasionally, a senior international policymaker provides a candid, on-the-record, reflection on the question of what he or she reads, and how academics might best influence policy. Jean-Marie...
View ArticleDon’t Elevate Kony
Put yourself in Joseph Kony’s shoes: imagine you are a fugitive leader of a rebel band in the forests of central Africa, travelling on foot and avoiding encounter with any organized military force. You...
View Article
