Africa

"Ebola is rolling back years of economic effort in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. It is also exposing the limitations of development models that ignore the importance of building state capacity. A major lesson from the outbreak is that there is no substitute for effective public institutions in protecting the public interest."

UN Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, delivered an address entitled “A World in Turmoil – A Test for the UN and its Member States” and led a discussion with experts, students, fellows, and members of the public on September 10 as part of the Future of Diplomacy Project’s first public event for the 2014-2015 academic year. He explored the great turmoil confronted by the world and expressed optimism about the UN’s advancement of its three pillars – Peace and Security, Development, and Human Rights – as well as positive global trends existing today.

The tragic murders of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other American diplomats in Libya, and candidate Mitt Romney's subsequent missteps have reminded us of two things: the ever-present dangers for Americans in the Middle East and the true nature and limitations of our leaders.

"The rise of political Islam in failed states is one of the most pressing security concerns in the world today. Given the increasingly tense interaction between the United States and Islamic countries, such as Pakistan and Iran, the potential for new Islamic regimes emerging out of failed states in Africa, Asia and the Middle East could add a notable degree of uncertainty to future international relations," writes Aisha Ahmad, a research fellow with the Belfer Center's International Security Program/Program on Religion in International Affairs.

As a child, Aisha Ahmad remembers vividly the arms bazaars in Peshawar and the throngs of bearded mujahedeen commanders as they passed through her grandfather’s smoke laden offices in the Pakistani frontier province.Though she was born in the UK and grew up in Canada, her family retained strong ties with their native community and during her youth Ahmad regularly traveled to the unruly Pakistan-Afghanistan border region.

In his Nov. 25 Boston Globe column, “Arab Awakening, Act 2”, Nicholas Burns warns that, nearly one year since the start of reform and revolution across the Arab world, the region may turn more turbulent and violent in the months ahead.

Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer gave a public address," Solutions: A Transformative U.S.-Africa Policy," at Harvard Kennedy School's John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum on April 7, 2009. Belfer Center Director Graham Allison moderated the event.

"Human beings should have as much right to security and the protection of the rule of law as ships carrying oil, tanks, cars and tennis shoes. That is a resonate lesson behind the Somali piracy -- at least in the Arab world."