With Africa’s solid support and his pro-west military and policy adventures, Kagame is able to take on critics.
Articles on Africa's strongmen
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Dos Santos was a withdrawn president. His silence produced an aura of power and the cult of personality that surrounded him.
Kiir and Machar have been pivotal figures in most of South Sudan’s short history as an independent nation.
There is more support for democracy among African people than is often recognised. Yet this can be undermined by election rigging and is lower in countries like Lesotho, Mozambique and South Africa.
The recent spate of military takeovers, most recently in Chad, highlights a developing trend by armed forces in Africa which overtly subvert constitutional governance.
The resistance during this election cycle is even more passionate than in recent years.
Biya’s long rule has robbed Cameroon of its credibility as a stable and peaceful country.
History will judge Nkurunziza as a man who brought unnecessary pain to a nation that had long suffered from political misrule.
The Dos Santos family and their supporters claim they are the objects of political persecution.
Crony capitalism became firmly embedded under Ben Ali, benefiting his family and close friends.
It remains to be seen how much longer the ‘old men syndrome’ will persist in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa, despite growing frustration among the politically powerless.
Robert Mugabe’s years of playing one group off against the other to favour himself finally wore too thin in 2017.
Africa’s democracies have grown stronger during a period in which the world is backsliding on democracy.
Top contributors
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Professor of Democracy, University of Birmingham
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Senior Lecturer in Anthropology, University of Johannesburg
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Political Scientist, University of the Western Cape
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Research associate, Catholic University of Angola
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Professor of History, University of Dayton
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Associate Professor of International Studies, University of Nottingham
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Reader in Law, SOAS, University of London
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Extraordinary Professor, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria
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Research Associate, Dept of Anthropology & Development Studies and Fellow, Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, University of Johannesburg
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Associate Researcher, Arnold Bergstraesser Institute
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Professor of Political Science, University of Bergen
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Director of the Centre for Global Development and Professor in the School of Education, University of Aberdeen
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow; Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa, University of Cape Town