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Army Captain Ibrahim Traore, Burkina Faso's new president, arrives at a ceremony for the 35th anniversary of the assassination of revolutionary president Thomas Sankara, in Ouagadougou, on October 15, 2022. Traore had taken power in a coup two weeks earlier (Photo by OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT/AFP via Getty Images)

As Senate Considers New Ambassador to Burkina Faso, Human Rights Focus Would Strengthen US Policy

As government forces battle armed groups in Burkina Faso, civilians face daily abuses, even death, amid a range of violations of their security and their property. At least 6,201…
macro of a US visa in a UK passport

Shaming without Naming: The Limits of Anonymous U.S. Visa Sanctions for Accountability

The Biden administration needs to use visa sanctions more transparently if they are to have a serious political impact.
President Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Salman stand next to each other.

The Democratic Price of Countering Authoritarianism

The US need to contend with China and Russia may obscure the accumulation of risk from many individual tradeoffs.
Various countries' flags in front of UN building and fence with UN symbol

National Security at the United Nations This Week (Jan. 15-Jan. 19)

This week's developments at the United Nations at the intersection of national security, human rights, and the rule of law.
African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) soldiers carry the wreckage of a vehicle at the scene of a suicide bombing that targeted AMISOM forces in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Nov. 11, 2021.  (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

Counterterrorism in Disguise? Does A Shift Toward `Peace Enforcement’ Spell a Death Knell for UN Peacekeeping?

A Security Council resolution on funding AU missions risks not only peacekeeping but also UN human rights and civilian protection priorities.
Security Council Chamber at United Nations

The United Nations in Hindsight: UN Security Council Sanctions

Sanctions programs could benefit from certain measures to restore their function as a critical U.N. Security Council tool for peace.

Amid Africa’s Spate of Coups, Improved Election Observation Will be Crucial to Transition

Whether observation missions in upcoming Sahel elections will help or hinder a return to civilian rule depends on a range of factors.
The United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Sudan's Darfur region (UNAMID) hands over its sector headquarters to the Sudanese government in Khor Abachi, some 120 kilometres north of Nyala capital of South Darfur State, on February 15, 2021. The photo shows two soldiers outdoors at the headquarters facing each other, with one holding a folded flag. UNAMID ended its 13 years of operations in Darfur on December 31 and started a phased withdrawal of its 8,000 or so armed and civilian personnel over six months. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

From Darfur to Darfur: The Fall and Rise of Indifference to Mass Atrocities in Africa

This arc reveals both the African Union’s strengths and weaknesses in stopping atrocity crimes, and what it might yet accomplish.

Ethiopia’s Conflict Is Spreading, But UN Human Rights Council May End Expert Investigation Anyway

EU presses to let mandate end despite commission finding that “past and current abuses in these four regions demand further investigation.”
A bird's eye view of Zimbabwean citizens waiting in a queue at a polling station before voting commences in Mabvuku suburb on August 23, 2023 in Harare. (Photo by Tafadzwa Ufumeli/Getty Images)

Zimbabwe’s Troubled Election: Might Southern African Leaders Follow the Example of Their Observers?

SADC leaders should follow their monitoring mission's lead with credible support amid the country's tensions.
White makeshift tent shelters stretch into the distance against a blue sky at the Russayo site in Eastern DRC.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Unheard Humanitarian Crisis

Since MSF raised the alarm about sexual violence and the crisis in eastern DRC as a whole, a slew of diplomats, U.N. officials, and local authorities have visited and expressed…
A woman carrying a baby in a sling on her back casts a ballot at a polling station on March 26, 2022 in Mbizo township, Kwekwe, Zimbabwe, during parliamentary and local authority by-elections that were seen as a yardstick of what is to come in the 2023 general polls. (Photo by ZINYANGE AUNTONY/AFP via Getty Images)

Zimbabwe’s Impending Elections: A Challenge for International Observers

Even in the short time left before the Aug. 23 vote, there are steps the government can take to enhance the quality of the elections.
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