As the French government announced this week a redeployment of troops back to northern Mali, citing the failure of the UN mission there (MINUSMA) to materialize and control the influx of Libyan arms into the region, I went to see the film “Timbuktu” at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. Written and directed by Mauritanian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako, … Continue reading
The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is holding elections today that are certain to re-elect current President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. To learn more about today’s elections and some of the social dynamics driving Mauritanian politics today, journalist Peter Tinti spoke with The Africa Collective contributor Erin Pettigrew, a PhD student at Stanford University who specializes in Mauritanian history, and Nasser Weddady, a Mauritanian-American activist who is best known for his use of social media during the Arab Spring. Continue reading
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