France says it will withdraw from Mali once an African peacekeeping force is in place. To keep Islamists at bay, the United States is considering increasing its military presence in the region. A better approach is to focus on fixing the governance issues that fuel radicalism to begin with, says John Campbell.

The radical Islamist group Boko Haram has contributed to widespread and deadly violence in Nigeria, but the government sercurity services are also at fault, write CFR's John Campbell and Asch Harwood.

The miners' strike reveals the growing frustration over the political bargain that ended apartheid but did little to ease systematic economic inequalities, writes CFR's John Campbell.

CFR's John Campbell says the new, more comprehensive policy for Sudan is "a positive development," and disagrees with those who say the approach offers engagement without requiring that the Sudanese government meet existing benchmarks.