Nelson's Page

Regional cooperation in West Africa is such a unique thing. Where else do you see cooperation on economic matters appear to be so much more difficult that you switch to cooperating on security? Wasn’t the EU built on precisely the opposite logic? BBC News – Ecowas to send troops after Mali, Guinea-B

The Special Court of Sierra Leone found Charles Taylor Guilty. Here is the summary of the judgment. As it states, he was found guilty of aiding and abetting the commission of 11 crimes, including terrorism, slavery, rape, and the use of child soldiers. As a number of observers have noted, the guilty

There has been some interesting online commentary on intra-regional trade in Africa. Trade between African states may be increasing. It is commonly observed that trade between African states is below what is typically seen in other regions of the world. However, as noted over at tralac, this might b

The WTO and Sustainable Development Lesotho Ambassador Mothae Maruping is the current chair of the WTO’s Committee on Trade and Development. ICTSD has a nice report of their recent meeting and its focus on sustainable development. One thought is how to integrate the WTO’s Aid for Trade program with

The BRICS have been very active in recent weeks. The significance of an alliance of Brazil, India, and China is not lost on many. But occasionally some have wondered whether Russia deserves to be in the group and South Africa’s entry last year raised a few eyebrows (and still does). The Summit Their

We all do it even though we probably shouldn’t . Daron Acemoglu offers his predictions for the world his grandchildren will inherit. Apparently war will go away, which might leave a number of IR scholars without a job! Daron Acemoglu’s Predictions – Business Insider. The original NBER Paper

My students in both classes have been focusing on climate change governance this week. One of the key themes that emerges is the question of equity. Does fairness matter here? (A question I won’t directly address because it is a take-home exam question!). What are the politics of equity and how does

A couple of my students have engaged in a discussion on our course blog regarding the precautionary principle. One student noted some of the potential advantages to principle: In the U.S. (considering the increase in political chatter about domestic oil drilling) perhaps some of the uncertainties ab