John Campbell says diplomacy and democracy--not firepower--is the best way to undermine Nigeria's growing Islamist threat.

Somalia's growing famine partly stems from a global failure to act on warning signs, but it's exacerbated by militant group al-Shabaab, factions of which are blocking aid delivery and might have to be negotiated with, says Africa analyst Rashid Abdi.

Robert Paarlberg of Wellesley College writes in The Atlantic about how to avert a repeat of Somalia's 1992 famine.

The Nation's Jeremy Scahill offers a look into CIA counterterrorism operations in Somalia, particularly the CIA presence in Mogadishu. Washington is intensifying its focus on Somalia, including targeted strikes by U.S. Special Operations forces, drone attacks, and expanded surveillance operations.

UN Security Council resolution 1999 was adopted without vote on July 13, 2011. In the resolution, the Council recommended to the General Assembly that South Sudan be admitted to the UN.

The process that led to South Sudan's independence offers lessons for avoiding a new, devastating conflict in the region and underscores the importance of sustained and vigorous U.S. diplomacy, writes CFR's Payton Knopf from the new country's capital.

The independence of South Sudan is a call for celebration but many difficult issues remain unresolved, says John Campbell, Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies at the Council of Foreign Relations. The outstanding delineation of 20 percent of the Sudan-South Sudan border and questions regarding divisions of oil revenues between the two countries must now be addressed.

In a Bloomberg feature, Noah Feldman explains the instructive problems posed by the case of captured Somali terrorist Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame.

As part of Under Suspicion, a Washington Post series on the lives of American Muslims in the decade following 9/11, Eli Saslow examines the case of Abdirizak Bihi, a Somali-American Muslim activist at the helm of a community-based counterterror group in Minnesota.

John Campbell states, "Rather than resolving the generations-long Sudan crisis, Juba's independence on July 9 merely opens a new chapter in a familiar, complicated story."

South Sudan's independence July 9 could encourage secession efforts elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, but elites in those countries will likely stymie those attempts at challenging colonial borders, at least for now.

In looking at the successful resolution of the political standoff in Côte d'Ivoire, most commentators have focused on the role of France and the UN.

John Campbell and Asch Harwood discuss the challenges facing Nigeria's newly elected president, Goodluck Jonathan.

Paul Kagame, president of the Republic of Rwanda, discusses Rwanda's domestic and foreign policies, as well as the dire need for a stronger energy infrastructure.

Paul Kagame, president of the Republic of Rwanda, discusses Rwanda's domestic and foreign policies, as well as the dire need for a stronger energy infrastructure.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame discusses Rwanda's development strategy.

This roundtable, part of the ExxonMobil Women and Development Series, looked at successful and sustainable agricultural innovations used to enhance productivity and women's income-generating abilities in the developing world.

This roundtable looked at successful and sustainable agricultural innovations used to enhance productivity and women's income-generating abilities in the developing world.

Hostilities in Sudan might be relieved by a deal hammered out by former South African president Thabo Mbeki, but ethnic and religious divides, resource battles, and looming southern independence remain contentious issues, says CFR's John Campbell.