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Rita Abrahamsen
Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
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Uganda’s Harsh Anti-Gay Campaign Could Spread Beyond its Borders
- Analysis
- June 2, 2023
Being gay in Uganda has never been easy. It just got a lot worse, and a lot more dangerous. Against fierce domestic and international pressure from human rights defenders, President Yoweri Museveni has signed into law one of the harshest …
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Africa, Ukraine, and the New Geopolitics
- Analysis
- March 9, 2022
When the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the African vote split right down the middle. Of the 54-member strong bloc, 28 voted for the resolution, 26 abstained or absented themselves, while Eritrea stood …
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2022 Best Blog Award Winner! 🏆 The Politics of Travel Bans
- Analysis
- October 3, 2021
I am not a health expert, nor am I especially knowledgeable about COVID 19, but I’m pretty sure I’m not infected by the virus because I still have my sense of smell – and I smell a rat.
Canada’s decision …
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The Right Family: The Personal is Geopolitical
- Analysis
- December 14, 2020
In the wake of Mr. Biden’s election victory, the foreign policy commentariat is brimming with optimism. With a committed internationalist in the White House and a woman as Vice-President, the world stage seems set for a return to happier times. …
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What’s at Stake for the World? Global Perspectives on the 2020 US Elections: Launching a CIPS Podcast Series
- CIPS
- October 15, 2020
With the US as an all-powerful neighbour and main trading partner, Canadian analyses of the American elections are naturally focused on what’s at stake for Canada and Canadians. But the November 2020 elections are also eagerly watched in other parts …
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Democracy and Double Standards
- Analysis
- October 12, 2020
Compare these two announcements:
- The African Union is an institution that is built on the fundamentals of liberal democratic values and good governance. The AU is, therefore, disturbed by the statements by the incumbent President of the United States,
Remembering David Petrasek
- CIPS
- May 15, 2020
We have lost a wonderful colleague and friend. David Petrasek, associate professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) and former director of the Centre for International Policy Studies (CIPS), died on Monday after a long, hard-fought …
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Constructing the Liberal Enemy: The International Political Sociology of the New Right
- Analysis
- February 20, 2020
A recent cover of L’Express depicts Marine Le Pen at the president’s desk in a glittering Élysée Palace. The unthinkable has become thinkable: Opinion polls put the leader of the Rassemblement National narrowly ahead of President Macron in an assumed …
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We Need to Talk about Africa and the UN Security Council
- Analysis
- February 7, 2020
Will Africa support Canada’s bid for a seat on the UN Security Council? This has been the question on everyone’s lips after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s official visit to the continent was announced. Will Trudeau’s attendance at the African Union …
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Nationalist Internationalists? The Strange Paradoxes of the Global Right
- Analysis
- September 9, 2019
By Rita Abrahamsen, Jean-François Drolet, Alexandra Gheciu, Srdjan Vucetic and Michael C. Williams
The first step toward meeting the challenge of the Radical Right is to understand their ideas, strategies, and organisations.
For nearly three years, we have been researching …
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The Geopolitics of America’s New Africa Strategy
- Analysis
- December 19, 2018
The Trump administration has not had much to say about Africa, and what little it has said has been mostly nonsense or offensive, or both. First there was the President’s infamous “sx!#hole” comment, then his faint praise for the non-existent …
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“Lest We Forget”: Remembering Africa’s (Forgotten) Contributions to WWI
- Analysis
- November 12, 2018
The world has marked the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, the peace treaty that ended the bloodshed of World War I. In Paris, world leaders gathered to commemorate the day the guns fell silent. At Vimy Ridge and Mons, …
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Liberal Internationalism: Save, Ditch, or Reform?
- Analysis
- July 15, 2018
Rita Abrahamsen, Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, and Director of CIPS
When President Donald Trump reneged on his commitment to the G7 Communiqué after the Charlevoix Summit in June, it was but one …
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Zimbabwe: A Faustian Bargain with a Crocodile?
- Analysis
- November 28, 2017
After 37 years of rule, Robert Mugabe, the world’s oldest leader and one of Africa’s longest serving presidents, has finally lost power. In an unprecedented, unpredictable, and at times unbelievable series of events, the one-time liberation hero was deposed by …
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All the President’s Friends: Adventures in “Nambia”
- Analysis
- September 24, 2017
Every year, I begin my African Politics classes by giving the students a map of Africa with the state borders drawn, but their names missing. Filling in the blanks is a humbling exercise, and most manage only a handful: South …
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In Africa, “America First” Means “Development Last”
- Analysis
- July 9, 2017
By Rita Abrahamsen
Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa
“How much confidence do you have in US President Donald Trump to do the right thing regarding world affairs?” When asked this question in a recent Pew …
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Letter to George Clooney
- Analysis
- September 15, 2016
Dear George,
I’m writing to say that I think you are a great actor! And, of course, handsome beyond belief!! I loved you in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? I laughed my socks off watching you in Burn After Reading…
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GardaWorld and Former Child Soldiers: The Price of Global Success?
- Analysis
- April 28, 2016
by Rita Abrahamsen and Michael C. Williams
Many Canadians will know GardaWorld from airport security, the routine removal of shoes, belts, and “any gels or liquids.” Fewer will know that the Montreal-based company is also a global security provider with …
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Sacrificing Democracy for Security? Shifting International Priorities in Africa
- Analysis
- March 6, 2016
More than a week after the elections in Uganda, the main opposition leader remains under house arrest. Police have been camped outside Dr Kizza Besigye’s home since election day, and whenever he attempts to leave, he is promptly detained. From …
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The AU Summit: Do Not Be Fooled
- Analysis
- February 1, 2016
If your main source of information about the world is the Canadian media, you probably did not register that the African Union’s 26th Summit took place in Addis Ababa this weekend. Causing barely a ripple on the Canadian airwaves, it …
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All I Want for Christmas…Is for Bob Geldof to Be Quiet
- Analysis
- December 10, 2014
When Sir Bob Geldof re-released the song ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ to raise money for Ebola victims, I decided against writing a blog about it. Bob does not need me to do his promotion, I thought, and sure enough …
READ MOREBefore We Get Carried Away: Politics, Security and Nigeria’s Missing Girls
- Analysis
- May 22, 2014
It is rare that Africa captures the attention of the world. Its everyday suffering is normally barely a ripple on the global airwaves. Not so with the kidnapped schoolgirls of Chibok. By now, the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls has been retweeted over …
READ MORESouth Africa After Mandela: No Easy Walk to Freedom
- Analysis
- December 8, 2013
The day Nelson Mandela died, I was boarding a flight to Nairobi. Seeing my itinerary, a member of the airport staff commented off-handedly, “Africa—why are there always so many problems there?” “Perhaps we just hear more about the problems, and …
READ MOREThe African Union, the International Criminal Court and the Politics of Justice
- Analysis
- October 21, 2013
The African Union’s new offices in Addis Ababa stand on the site of one of Africa’s most notorious prisons, popularly known as Alem Bekagn or ‘farewell to the world’. For decades, thousands of people suffered and died here, many for …
READ MOREMali: Global Jihad, Local Struggles and the Dangers of a Single Story
- Analysis
- February 19, 2013
In the wake of the French intervention in Mali, there is much talk of the Sahel region becoming a safe haven for extremist Islamists. Africa’s vast desert territories are perceived as ‘ungoverned spaces’, or ‘black holes’ where a dangerous underworld …
READ MOREThe Olympics, and the Rise and Dangers of Private Security
- Analysis
- July 17, 2012
Today, Nick Buckles, the CEO of the world’s biggest private security company, will be questioned by the UK House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, which is attempting to explain how G4S managed to bungle the Olympic contract quite so …
READ MORESenegal: Warnings From a Model Democracy on the Brink
- Analysis
- February 24, 2012
Senegal, one of Africa’s most celebrated democracies, hovers on the brink of electoral chaos and political violence. At least six people have already been killed, and protests and demonstrations are continuing on a daily basis despite the violent crack-down of …
READ MOREAfrica: No Longer “The Hopeless Continent”
- Analysis
- December 13, 2011
“Africa Rising” declared The Economist’s front page last week. How things change! Eleven years ago, the front page of the same prestigious weekly declared Africa “The Hopeless Continent”. Then a young soldier brandishing an RPG peered menacingly at the …
READ MORE‘Conflict Minerals’, Canada and African Civil Wars
- Analysis
- October 26, 2011
The global campaign against so-called ‘conflict minerals’ is gathering pace, with Canada playing a central role.The campaign is primarily focused on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), from where reports about ‘rape’ or ‘blood’ cellphones’ have fueled our …
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