Authoritarian regimes and democratisation in Africa: China and Russia compared
When the "third wave" of democratisation swept across much of Africa in the aftermath of the Cold War, hopes were high that...
On reflection: Rwanda’s gacacha courts
With Rwanda's ever-controversial Gacaca courts coming to a close last month, commentators have been avidly debating their achievements and their legacy. In this opinion...
Calculating skeptics: Accommodating authoritarian rule in Rwanda
In this article, Anu Chakravarty explores the relationship of Hutus to the Rwandan state, and asks what shapes their political decisions in everyday life. Anuradha...
Is there a developmental model of the internet emerging in Africa?
In this article, Iginio Gagliardone and Frederick Golooba-Mutebi explore the approach that Rwanda and Ethiopia have been taking towards information and communications technology (ICT), and ask...
The hypocrisy of the Western aid regime
As part of our popular Book Club series, Tobias Hagmann and Filip Reyntjens discuss the key lessons from their powerful publication Aid and Authoritarianism: Development...
A response to Nic Cheeseman on authoritarian aid
Nic Cheeseman has written an interesting article about the current crisis in Ethiopia and its implications for development funding. It contains some...
Why Democracy and Authoritarianism Are Both on the Rise in Africa
DiA's own Nic Cheeseman looks at the trends in democracy and authoritarianism in Africa over the last few years, and identifies an increasingly divided...
#BookClub: Building peace out of diversity and violence
A potent issue in designing institutions to address violent conflict is whether such institutions should explicitly recognize or avoid reference to ethnic identities. Conflicts...
International Women’s Day 2018: What is there to celebrate?
DiA's Nic Cheeseman and the University of Birmingham's Jill Steans ask whether there is anything to celebrate on this International Women's Day, and why...
Decentralisation and policy advocacy in Rwanda
Continuing our series on Rwanda, Benjamin Chemouni suggests how we can move beyond the polemic discourse that so often surrounds Rwanda, understanding the insecurities of...
What next for UK-Africa relations after Brexit?