Fighting for a changed approach to security in conflict zones

Following what I wrote yesterday about the national armies in some of the Sahelian countries – that their low operational capacity is one of the key problems, on top of their human rights shortcomings and other serious governance issues – I was reminded by a friend of the example of Somalia. The international community, including European resources, have been engaged in the country for a long time with little results. Billions have been spent and many lives lost. However, the terrorists are all over, including in the capital city. And the national army, that we all have trained and keep repeating is essential to solve the insecurity threats, has a fighting capacity that is estimated at 8%. That means that almost everyone in the army is not prepared to fight an asymmetric war and cannot collect the intelligence needed to crush the terrorist cells. Or, there are two fundamental dimensions of any stabilisation project. They are not enough but if they do not happen nothing else can be achieved.

That’s why I keep repeating that we must look at these matters with frankness and be clear about what is going on and what needs to change. If we fail to do it, if we keep pretending and talk niceties, we will keep investing in the sand of those vast deserts. We will be wasting resources and lives. And we will be undermining the credibility of the international institutions and other players that are operating in such contexts. Can’t we find the courage to shift our approach?

The Europeans and the Sahel: a fake dialogue

A ministerial meeting of the International Coalition for the Sahel was held on Friday, 12 June 2020 and co-chaired by Mauritania, the EU and France.

The Sahel is going through enormous challenges. Therefore, an initiative like this conference can only be considered as positive. The problem is, however, that the emphasis was basically placed on the security dimensions, without a proper discussion about the human rights issues and the poor governance that prevails in much of the region. The armed forces of the G5 Sahelian countries – Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger – are weak, except for the Chadian ones, and have a questionable record in terms of human rights. The weaknesses are ignored by the European partners and the human rights dimensions are always absent from the debate. Besides that, there has been a proliferation of militia groups, particularly in Burkina Faso. They are supported by the national governments and the experience has shown that they have become part of the problem

The Europeans, led by the French, are not fully sincere when discussing the Sahel situation. Their dialogue with the Sahelian leaders is not frank. It is too formal, full of niceties. It does not touch the root causes of the ongoing conflicts. And without frankness, there is no way the fast deteriorating situation can be addressed. It will continue to worsen.

Large-scale corruption

Today’s revelations about Isabel dos Santos, the Angolan entrepreneur and the richest woman in Africa, just confirm a few things I keep repeating. 

First, dictatorship and high-level corruption go hand in hand. 

Second, corruption is the key impediment of development and human security. 

Third, European leaders know that corrupted practices are widespread in non-democratic regimes, but they quite often prefer to turn a blind eye on the issue, if there are political or economic interests at play. 

Fourth, global consultancy firms do not mind offering some cover to illegal transfers, if there is money to be made from that. 

Fifth, an independent media is essential to uncover malpractices. And to keep dictators on guard, under watch. 

Algeria and Sudan

Algeria and Sudan mean good news. It is so rewarding to have positive developments in these two countries. People are in the streets, fighting for democracy, after so many years of government brutality. And they are not ready to let change go and be just apparent. They want deep political reforms, serious constitutional changes. Civilian rule after the dictatorship of the intelligence services and the armed forces.

They will do it by themselves. There is no need for external pressure or interference. In both cases, we have populations that have shown political maturity and indomitable courage. They learnt, after so many years of hardship, to be strong and clear in their determination.

Europe and Africa

In my discussion today with senior EU officials, I asked them  to take home 7 major issues:

1.     Population explosion

 .   State legitimacy and Human Security

3.     Understanding State Fragility

4.     Livestock: do not leave behind the shepherds

5.     The Dragon has a plan: China in Africa

6.     Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue, supported by the EU and Member States diplomatic / trade / security machineries

7.     Tell the story: keep repeating the appropriate narratives. Be frank and positive

Brief note on the EU Global Strategy

In the future, the EU development cooperation policy cannot just be focused on governance, security and human rights. These three domains are certainly crucial. We need to see improvements in all of them. But we cannot ignore the food security challenges, the health needs, education, gender equality, energy and some critical infrastructure. They still required massive foreign aid. They are also essential to lift people out of poverty, including the future mothers of tomorrow. And to make sure people feel encouraged to remain in their native lands. A comprehensive view of development cannot just be reduced to one size fits all.

Still on corruption: aid transparency

Aid transparency ranking:



Data compiled in the Aid Transparency Index and released by Publish What You Fund in April 2016.

Only 10 donors, responsible for only a quarter of all aid, are hitting the mark in terms of transparency of their funding programmes. We know that transparent aid flows do significantly contribute to increase accountability in recipient countries. And we also have spent the last 25 years listening to excellent lectures on good governance, as delivered by excellent representatives from donor countries and agencies. 

I believe the table speaks for itself. 

Poland is a key country within the EU

There is no doubt regarding the political legitimacy of the new Polish government, led by the Law and Justice Party (PiS). The voters gave PiS the largest number of seats at the October 2015 general elections and naturally the party took over the country´s government. The problem is a different one. There have been a series of moves by the Cabinet that have raised serious question marks about its approach to democratic governance in a European context.  The legislative action it took against the Constitutional Court´s independence is the best known example. But there are several others, including smear campaigns against the civil society organisations. And there have been also some grave attempts to bring under party control some of the key positions in the defence sector.

The European Commission has called the attention of the new authorities in Warsaw. The same happened to the Council of Europe. But the PiS leadership seems to be in its own planet, not in the EU, and has paid no real attention to the advice. That should be considered worrying.

It would be a serious mistake – one more, taking into consideration several other blunders made in other political areas – to let it go. The European institutions have to be very clear in their political dialogue with Warsaw to ensure that respect for the opposition and plurality of opinions are fully accepted by PiS. The EU should also insist on keeping the Polish key institutions stable and free of partisan meddling. Any weaker approach on the Brussels side would encourage other governments elsewhere to follow the path that the Warsaw authorities are now pursuing. And that would add serious additional challenges to a union that is already under severe stress.

Time to focus on Angola´s democratization

Angola does not attract a lot of media attention. It is an important country in its part of the world, because of its size, wealth and military power. But is also a very poor example in terms of democratic rule and even worst, if we look at governance and accountability issues. 

It is a rich country with plenty of poverty. And it is a country that locks up people as soon as they express any type of opposition to the ruling class. 

That´s the case with 15 grassroots individuals that have been in jail for about three months for the simple reason they organised a public demonstration to call for more democracy and human rights. They are now under the very serious charge of treason and threats against the constitutional order –“coup d´état attempt”-, as accused by the government. It is a farce, a travesty of rule of law.

It is time to talk about it. As it is time to call for democratic change in the country.

Burkina Faso must return to the democratic path

Burkina Faso is one of the better educated countries in West Africa. And its population is young and dynamic. There is in addition a good sense of national identity and cohesiveness. It is therefore unacceptable to see the Presidential Guard take over the executive power, stop the transition to democratic rule and try to bring back the former President, Blaise Compaoré. The coup d´état, carried out a couple of days ago, must be condemned firmly by all the friends of such an interesting and promising country. It would be a serious disservice to Africa if France and others in the EU would be seen as hesitating in their condemnation of the coup. 

Africa´s development priorities

I wrote an opinion piece today to emphasize how important is for the international community to focus on the development challenges of Africa. This should be one of the top priorities in the global agenda for the next two or three decades. And the key areas of intervention have to be, as I see them, the following: governance, energy development and agricultural change. Resources, both from Africa and from elsewhere, should go first to these three sectors. That will be the only way to address the compound problems of extreme poverty, population growth and chaotic urbanisation. 

The UN General Assembly is now around the corner

The annual session of the UN General Assembly is about to start. The agenda is diversified and it includes the new global approach to the development goals, environment and climate change matters, population growth issues as well as the usual high rhetoric but politically important speeches by some key world leaders.

Unfortunately, the UN is not in a position to come up with a road map for some very critical on-going conflicts, like the one in Ukraine or the situation in the Middle East, including an accepted agenda to fight extremism and human rights violations. Critics would say it shows the irrelevance of the UN as a mechanism for conflict resolution when the scale of the conflict is too big and related to the contradictory interests of powerful countries.

It is however too much to talk about irrelevance. The UN does what it can, what the member states allow it to do. And in some areas of intervention, like the ones I mention at the beginning of this post, it has done quite a bit. And it is still the only hope that remains for many in very poor and ill governed countries. 

To know when it is time to exit

It would be unfair to ignore Pope Benedict XVI on the day that marks the end of his papacy. From a leadership point of view, Benedict XVI will remain as unforgettable example. For me, the ultimate test of good leadership is the exit one: a first-class leader knows when time to exit is. 

Good governance in Afghanistan

I spent part of the afternoon in a public discussion about the future of Afghanistan after the departure of ISAF, the international military deployment. End 2014 is around the corner and security remains a major challenge. But some of the Afghan participants told us that more important than the security transition – the transfer of responsibilities from the NATO-led force to the national army – is the political transition that is scheduled for next year. In about 14 months there will be presidential elections and a new leader will take over from President Hamid Karzai. The credibility of those elections is still a matter to be addressed. And, more importantly, as the NATO representative in the discussion said: “we need a good, honest government in Kabul”.

Well, this is indeed a big challenge.

Today's word in Spain

There is one word in today’s Spain that has plenty of currency among the ordinary people. It is a word that expresses the disgust and displeasure of almost everyone with present-day politics and the politicians. It is also an indication that the crisis in Spain is much deeper than the economy, the banking situation and the skyrocketed rate of unemployment. No need to guess. The word is … corruption!

Fashion, peace and love

Copyright V.Ângelo

Peace and love are back in Sierra Leone, West Africa. And the fashion houses, like this one in Makeni, the headquarters town of the Northern Province, are pretty busy. Creativity is part of building a more democratic and stable society and country.

Sierra Leone and the international community have a major challenge: the fashion of peace needs deeper roots. The dividends of peace are yet to fully marry the democratic dispensation.