From Afghanistan to Libya; rethinking the role of the military | Pakistan: Now or Never? | Analysis & Opinion. In a report this month calling for faster progress on a political settlement on Afghanistan, the influential UK parliamentary foreign affairs committee was unusually critical of the dominance of the military in setting Afghan policy. “We conclude that there are grounds for concern over the relationship between the military and politicians. We further conclude that this relationship has, over a number of years, gone awry and needs to be re-calibrated … we believe that problems in Afghanistan highlight the need for a corresponding cultural shift within Whitehall to ensure that those charged with taking foreign policy decisions and providing vitally important political leadership are able to question and appraise military advice with appropriate vigour,” it said.
During its enquiries, based on interviews with regional experts and officials, “we gained the impression that the sheer size and power of the U.S. military ensured that the U.S. military remained largely in control of U.S. SACSIS.org.za » News » Democracy & Governance » Revolution Comes Like a Thief in the Night. Home. Africa: We Need a New U.S. Trade Framework. As the White House scrambles to keep pace with the fast changes taking place across North Africa, the administration should reassess another vital aspect of U.S. policy toward the continent – preferential trade. For more than a decade, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) has been the cornerstone of commercial and trade relations between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa.
By providing African countries with non-reciprocal access to the American market, Agoa was a bold effort to employ trade as a stimulus for economic development. The story of Agoa, unfortunately, is that of a promise unfulfilled. The United States and Africa should move beyond the arrangement toward free trade agreements when Agoa expires in 2015, especially with middle-income African nations. Meanwhile, more can be done to enhance U.S. Of the more than 6,000 products that can be exported to the United States duty- and quota-free under Agoa, only 50 of the exempted categories have been utilized. SACSIS.org.za » News » Africa » Egypt or Libya: Which Message Will Prevail?
Region in turmoil - Spotlight. Click on a highlighted country above for Al Jazeera's coverage of those protests. The world’s attention has been focused on a handful of countries - Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Libya - since the first popular protests broke out in Tunisia in December. But nearly a dozen countries in the region have seen political unrest, and the protest movement shows no signs of stopping. Below is a summary of the demonstrations so far, and links to our coverage. You can also click a country on the map above for more information. Al Jazeera is also airing a series of seven hour-long programmes which offer fresh insights into what happened in the region and why.
To view the series, check our Arab Awakening programmes page. Full coverage: Elsewhere around the region: Jordan Protests in Jordan started in mid-January, when thousands of demonstrators staged rallies in Amman and six other cities. Jordan’s King Abdullah tried to defuse the protests in early February by sacking his entire cabinet. Saudi Arabia Oman. SACSIS.org.za » Listing Members » Leonard Gentle.