Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Breakdown of US Foreign Aid in Africa

It took me awhile to find accurate and viable data on this subject but the US Census has published this information recently. Its interesting to see how much Africa has been supported by the United States compared to other regions in the world.

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s1262.pdf

Here is a further breakdown of each individual country and how much they have recieved.
 http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s1263.pdf
 

Any surprises that catch your eye?

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

South Africa Protecting Its Wildlife

 



In my attempt to find an article that was a bit further from politics than usual I came across this current issue. This year, 227 rhinos have been illegally killed. Last year, only 122 were killed. All across the world, trade of rhino horns is banned, but in the black market they are very wealthy. It was very disheartening to learn how much technology has improved the ability for poachers to kill these animals. The poachers use helicopters to fly above the rhinos. They use dart guns to stun and make the rhino unconscious. Then they land, cut off the horn, and leave the rhino to die.

One of the reasons rhino horns is in such high demand is because of the old traditions of African medicine. The rhinos are believed to hold power and within the horn holds healing strength. An issue like this makes you wonder how a modern Africa would not just be beneficial on a humanity global scale, but would also benefit the defenseless animals that share this planet with us.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Norway Helps African Nations

I found an article discussing a very humane issue that has not received much attention yet. Here is the article:

Here



The issue on hand here is the assistance from a wealthy, developed nation going out of their way to assist not just one African nation, but six. Norway used to be a poor nation who became wealthy through its use of its natural resources. Now they are going to teach the same methods they once used to create much needed wealth in the African nations. The six countries agreed to get rid of their coastal borders to allow the Norwegian company "Accord" to map the continental shelf. The Atlantic shelf that borders these six countries is thought to be filled with rich natural gas and other various resources.

I love reading about situations like these when a big brother country goes out of its way to help out a smaller one. We hardly hear of Norway on the news and it bothered me that this has gone unnoticed. Maybe its just me but Im tired of Lindsey Lohan being arrested on every channel. I hope other countries including our own can use its advantages and knowledge to help bring Africa towards modernization.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Somalia - An Unrecognized Government

Since taking the Comparative Government Course last year with Dr. Cole, I have always been interested in the government situation currently in Somalia. As we compared different government systems against each other, Somalia was the only country in the world that showed up as "No Government." We hear much about Somalia on todays news as they are involved with many different hijackings of various countries ships. Which in return involves our own US Marines and other various Special Forces Teams to help handle the dangerous threat. Here is an article I found which is quite a clever way for the German Crew to get through such a dangerous situation:

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/German-ship-crew-tricked-pirates-20100910

I started searching the web to find out why so many textbooks declare Somalia as a country without a government. What I learned was quite surprising. The current attempt to establish a controlled state is the 17th attempt at doing so since 1991. This attempt is by the Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia. The year 1991 also marked the year in which the former British colony of Somaliland declared independence. The reason the government is still not recognized is because the country is divided into controlled regions by various groups. As I tried to learn which regions were controlled by who, it seemed to be an almost daily changing predicament. Different warlords are always fighting over these zones.