Colin Thomas-Jensen's blog

While we discuss the way forward in Afghanistan, a calamitous counterinsurgency operation is unfolding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo without the benefit of the same kind of thoughtful debate.  Read More »

Speaking to reporters in Cairo yesterday, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana served up a wingtip sandwich.

It is abundantly clear to most observers that southerners will vote for independence, and their decision must be respected by the international community. Solana’s statements are at best inappropriate. His suggestion that there a “preferable” outcome in the southern Sudanese vote is an affront to southerners and to the external actors—including many European countries—that painstakingly negotiated the agreement. As one colleague noted, “It’s clear to me that almost no one puts the southern Sudanese people into their calculations.”  Read More »