USAID worked intensively with the new South African government after the fall of apartheid in 1994. William Stacy Rhodes was…
Harriet Elam-Thomas: A Career Well Served
Harriet Elam-Thomas grew up in Boston, the youngest of five children. She graduated from Simmons College and later earned a…
The 1976 Soweto Uprising
During the 1970’s, South Africa’s apartheid rule continued to use official procedures of explicit and implicit racism to subjugate and…
Ghana’s Populist Mystic, Jerry Rawlings
Like many leaders throughout Africa, Jerry Rawlings was a paradoxical figure. He could be calculating and ruthless, as when he…
The Reign of the Snake – The Seedy Tenure of Togo’s President Eyadema
Extravagant dinners with Dom Pérignon and caviar, rampant corruption, political assassinations, a starving populace. Togo had been a small jewel…
Celebrating the Leadership of America’s Ambassadors of African Descent
Ask any five people on an American college campus or maybe even on the streets of any major city, to…
Oil, Blood and Steel: The Failed Attempt to Create a Democratic Congo
This is the story of how a corrupt multinational oil company, a self-centered dictator, lingering ethnic tensions, and lack of…
Jean Bédel Bokassa: The Man who Would be Emperor
Jean Bédel Bokassa ruled as President-for-life and later as Emperor of the Central African Republic from 1966 to 1979. In…
Today in History
Find articles about diplomatic events from each day of the year Here’s a handy calendar of events linked to Moments…
Zimbabwe — The Death of a Nation
On April 18th, 1980, Southern Rhodesia, the richest nation in Africa, officially gained independence from the United Kingdom and established…