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The Political Economy of Development and Democratic Transitions in Kenya

May 14, 2013

By Cassandra R. Veney* and Paul Tiyambe Zeleza* Since the 1990s, Kenya, like most African countries, has undergone a protracted transition to democracy. There are arguably four watershed events in this story: 1992 when the first multiparty elections were held since Kenya had become a one-party state; 2002 when the 40 year reign of Kenya [...]

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International Development is Gay: How the New Policy Focus on LGBTI Rights Can Transform Development for the Better

by Rachel Bergenfield* “Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights,” proclaimed former Secretary of State Clinton in 2011. On the same day, President Obama directed all US agencies involved in foreign policy and development[i] to ensure that their work protects and promotes the human rights of LGBTI[ii] people, United Nations Secretary-General [...]

A License to Publish: Burma’s Insurance against a Free Press

By Rob Cuthbert On the surface, Rangoon is a city that is rotting from without. Significant civic investment has been on hiatus for 60 years. Architecturally, the Burmese government and its people have chosen to invest in interiors, rather than exteriors. The exterior of the high-rise I visited on a summer night in 2012 was [...]

Secular Autocracy vs. Sectarian Democracy? The Christian Predicament in the Syrian Uprising

Salma Mousa*   “The demonstrators are nothing but terrorists,” said Archbishop Tabé of the Syrian Catholic Church, scarcely veiling his contempt. “In any political system, there are always 10% who have to be sacrificed.” Although hardcore Christian support is steadily waning, after a year of political crisis the majority of Christian leadership and laity alike [...]


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