The Open Village» World Affairs

Foreign Aid and The Mirage Of Poverty Eradication

Daniel Ihonvbere — Sun, 24 May 2009 12:37:45 +0000

The reality of aid… is that it continues to fail to promote human development for the eradication of poverty based on the core values of human rights, democracy, gender equality and environmental sustainability. This is despite the appearance of progress in the form of high-profile debt cancellations, new aid pledges, and the signing of the Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness – Caterina Amicucci Globalization has [...]

Obama’s Security Team

Daniel Ihonvbere — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:54:08 +0000

As was widely rumored, President-Elect Barack Obama unveiled his National Security Team today. Here’s the announcement as released: Good morning. Last week, we announced our economic team, which is working as we speak to craft an Economic Recovery Program to create jobs and grow our struggling economy. Today, Vice President-elect Biden and I are pleased to [...]

A Nation of Hand-Wringers

Daniel Ihonvbere — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:49:03 +0000

Now that the elections have been fought and won by a once improbable candidate, Americans have quickly reverted to type – worrying about everything and nothing on how the new president will govern. It never ceases to amaze me how much influence a negative culture has on a nations psyche. Here is a candidate who [...]

John McCain’s Fantasy World

Daniel Ihonvbere — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:33:00 +0000

“I know how to win wars” “I am a maverick” “I have been tested” “I know how to get Osama Bin Laden” Hearing senator John McCain make these claims, the totally uninformed is wont to take the word of the 72-year old at face value. After all, he has been celebrated as a war hero; he is a long-serving [...]

Democracy in Africa: The Case of Angola

Daniel Ihonvbere — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 15:31:27 +0000

In a continent that has seen its fair share of international, regional, local and tribal wars, the news coming out of Angola is refreshing. That a country which, until recent times, was enmeshed in a long-running civil war could hold a peaceful election is astounding enough. But the greatest achievement in all this is that [...]

On This September 11

Daniel Ihonvbere — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:22:49 +0000

It’s been seven years since the horrible tragedy that was visited on the United States by mindless terrorists and misguided elements. Seven years have gone by when the country lost almost three thousand souls to the attack on 9/11, and seven years have gone by without the major participants in that attack being brought to [...]

Crisis and Contradictions in American Intelligentsia

Daniel Ihonvbere — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:01:43 +0000

For quite some time now, I have often found myself asking the question “Why does the greatest country in the world keep making stupid political blunders in terms of foreign policy?”. The evidence of this myopic and sometimes disastrous political miscalculations are broad and varied: from starting local wars in the Far East to supporting [...]

The hunt for oil: Another wasteful $1 Billion foreign aid

Daniel Ihonvbere — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:41:00 +0000

The recent news that once again the Bush administration plans to announce a $1 billion package of aid to help rebuild another country, this time, Georgia after its rout by Russian forces last month, is yet again a demonstration that the Bush administration is clueless about the use of economic power in foreign affairs. After [...]

The rebirth of a Bipolar world?

Daniel Ihonvbere — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:25:57 +0000

In a sign that the world may be witnessing the re-emergence of a bipolar world where the United States and most Western countries are on one side and Russia and its allies are on the other, President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia on Sunday laid out what he said would become his government’s guiding principles of foreign policy after its landmark conflict with Georgia – notably including a claim to a “privileged” sphere of influence in the world.

Why John McCain cannot be president

Daniel Ihonvbere — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:20:39 +0000

I strongly believe that the country will be in another war a few weeks after Senator John McCain is sworn into office, should he win the election in November. That war will be with Iran, and perhaps, by extension, Russia even if between now and then, the Iranian regime finds a way to assuage the fears about its nuclear ambitions.