Africa

Stephen Walt argues that relinquishing influence and sticking an adversary with a costly burden can sometimes be the epitome of strategic wisdom.

Once in a while, humankind gets blessed with prodigious talents to light the world and dispel darkness. Civilizations and breakthroughs in human history have arisen from such gifted people.

Such was Professor Calestous Juma, who passed away on 15 December 2017, after a battle with cancer, and interred on 6 January 2018 in his home country, Kenya.

Combined with a greater level of regulatory oversight and new mining laws in some countries, these factors indicate that the mining industry in Africa may be on the cusp of a period of sustained growth.

"Sustaining African agricultural transformation will require national policy approaches which emphasize the need to transition toward sustainable agriculture. More specifically, they will need to pursue strategies that allow for the integration of precision agriculture in existing farming methods. Such policies could focus on six key elements: biological diversity; ecology and emerging technologies; infrastructure; research and training; entrepreneurship and regional trade; and improved governance of agricultural innovation."

"Unlike the digital revolution that relied on pre-existing technologies, the new bioeconomy will involve more local research, teaching and commercialization. This will require greater involvement of local universities, especially those with an entrepreneurial inclination."

"Despite being on different sides of the Syrian civil war, Putin has managed to bring Riyadh into its diplomatic orbit through cooperation on oil policy, given how both Saudi-led OPEC states and Russia need substantially higher prices for government budgets to break even."

"...[A]fter seven-plus years in office, this most articulate of presidents never articulated a clear and coherent framework identifying what those vital interests are and why and spelling out how the United States could advance broader political ideals at acceptable cost and risk."

"It is estimated that the spotted stem borer and the African stem borer reduce Kenya's maize crop by 13 per cent or 400,000 tonnes annually. Controlling the pest using biotechnology will not only reduce Kenya's food imports, it will also equip the country with new techniques that can be redeployed for other sectors such as drug and vaccine development."

"The Islamic State, on the other hand, reached prominence in the chaotic aftermath of the Arab uprisings and at a time of great U.S. reluctance to intervene in the Middle East. It focused on gaining territory and establishing a caliphate as measures that would further increase its power as it attempts to remake the international system. The Islamic State also promoted a particularly radical ideology, genocidal toward Shiites and other Middle Eastern minorities and ruthless toward Sunnis who refuse to submit to its authority. As a result, not only does it manifest an even more expansive challenge to the international order, it is also better equipped to threaten this order."