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Featuring research on insecurity, gender, everyday commuting in Nairobi among other things.

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Analysis of London conference on Somalia

This particular conference was symbolically successful from the beginning in many aspects. It was the largest so far by attendance, not only by powerful states but also Muslim states like United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Turkey [1] , which will help in the positive reception of the outcome by the Somali people as “open, and fair” unlike previous ones dominated by either Ethiopia, Kenya and the Western states, perceived negatively as occupation of Somalia. Additionally, it is the only conference attended by the leaders of Somaliland, a self declared de facto independent state [2] . Having leaders of Somaliland participate and agreeing to the call is positive since long lasting peace needs as much regional approach as it can get. Furthermore, through this conference thrust Somalia onto world stage, unlike previous conferences where it was conducted along the corridors of East African states. Plausible outcome of the conference in regards to international security is recognising tha
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State ineffectiveness in DRC

Rotberg (2003), explained what “failed states” mean, and he simply explained  it as a state that cannot provide positive political goods and services for its citizen and these political goods are obligations and expectations that entails political culture and social contract. Security is the most important political good, and its absence indicates state failure. State failure in DRC has been identified as one of its features since its establishment in 1885 as a modern state, from the time it was Congo Free State under Belgian King Leopold II to present day DRC under Kabila. Ineffectiveness of the structures of the state and the violence inflicted upon the people of DRC dates back to colonial period under the brutal rule of King Leopold II. King Leopold set foundation for the horrors that haunts modern day DRC, the country was used as an extraction field where mass violence and human rights violations was taken as an appropriate measure against the natives. According to Ntalaja
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Perspectives: Why has Africa grown slowly?

Paul Collier (1999) clearly stated his arguments and explanations why Continental Africa is lagging behind in terms of development and growth unlike other regions of the world. Africa’s slow growth was explained by grouping the perceived causes into two-by-two matrix separating on one hand policy and “destiny” factors and on the other external and domestic. Furthermore, he comes to his conclusion by saying that reforms, especially in areas of domestic policy dealing with service delivery needs to be intensified while finally stating that freedom will be helpful in strengthening democracy which will likely support economic reform.   Although extensive and valid explanations were given by the author, it is quite hard not to separate the author from the institution he is working for when he published the article. He was working as a director of development research with the World Bank, thus making it hard for readers to rule out institutional bias since he barely made reference to
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