Since it gained independence from France in 1960, the West African country of Senegal has been a bastion of stability and democracy on a continent that has seen relatively little of either.

In October 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to seize a palatial cliff-top home in Malibu, California. The 16-acre property towers over its neighbors, with a palm-lined driveway leading to a plaster-and-tile mansion.

It would be easy to label the Democratic Republic of the Congo an irredeemable mess. For almost two decades, the country has been roiled by a series of wars involving neighboring countries and dozens of Congolese militias.

The Obama administration relies on drones for one simple reason: they work. Drone strikes have devastated al Qaeda at little financial cost, at no risk to U.S. forces, and with fewer civilian casualties than many alternative methods would have caused.

Sub-Saharan Africa's GDP has grown five percent a year since 2000 and is expected to grow even faster in the future. Although pessimists are quick to point out that this growth has followed increases in commodities prices, the success of recent political reforms and the increased openness of African societies give the region a good chance of sustaining its boom for years to come.

Despite the fall of the Qaddafi regime in Libya, humanitarian intervention still has plenty of critics.

Steven Radelet's accessible new book argues that much of the credit for Africa's recent economic boom goes to its increasingly open political systems.

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

When apartheid ended, the new regime in South Africa promised to redistribute land that whites had stolen from blacks.

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.

Depending on how locals and outsiders react to events in Sudan, the secession referendum scheduled for January could trigger either the country's partition or a new explosion of violence.

With one billion people already going hungry and the world's population rising, global food production must urgently be increased. But Africa can manage this surge -- if it finally uses the seeds, fertilizers, and irrigation methods common everywhere else.

The current Kenyan government has not solved the underlying problems of corruption and inequality, and ethnic resentments are likely to remain until Kenyans elect a clean and inclusive government.

Zimbabwe has been ruled by a unity government since 2008, but President Robert Mugabe and his party continue to usurp power and pillage the country's wealth.

Washington's repeated attempts to bring peace to Somalia with state-building initiatives have failed, even backfired.

Many economies in Africa have remained largely sheltered from the global financial crisis. To keep economic development there on track, the West must avoid protectionist impulses.

Although the war in Congo officially ended in 2003, two million people have died since. One of the reasons is that the international community's peacekeeping efforts there have not focused on the local grievances in eastern Congo, especially those over land, that are fueling much of the broader tensions. Until they do, the nation's security and that of the wider Great Lakes region will remain uncertain.

How new deals in the developing world will change the global economy.

Nigeria's elections last April were among the most seriously flawed in the country's history, thanks largely to the manipulations of the U.S.-backed ruling party. With Nigerians increasingly clamoring for accountability, Washington's continuing support could generate more unrest -- and could pose a risk both to oil supplies coming out of Nigeria and to the stability of West Africa.

The Greater Horn of Africa, the hottest conflict zone in the world, is a legitimate concern of U.S. officials. But their overwhelming focus on stemming terrorism there is overshadowing U.S. initiatives to resolve conflicts and promote good governance -- with disastrous implications for regional stability and U.S. counterterrorism objectives themselves.