Music Of The Democratic Republic Of The Congo

The war began in August 1998, when Laurent Kabila tried to expel Rwandan military forces that had helped him overthrow Mobutu. Congolese Tutsis as well as the Governments of Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda, all relied on the Rwandan military presence for protection against hostile armed groups operating from the eastern part of the country. These groups included: The Interahamwe militia of Hutus, mostly from Rwanda, Hutu members of the former Rwandan armed forces, and other Rwandan Hutu militiaman, some of whom took part in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda and who fought the Tutsi-dominated Government of Rwanda; the Mai Mai, a loose association of traditional Congolese local defense forces, which primarily fought Rwandan government forces and their Congolese allies; the Alliance of Democratic Forces (ADF), made up of Ugandan opposition forces supported by the Government of Sudan, which fought the Government of Uganda but largely was inactive during the year; and several groups of Hutu ... [Read More]

Congo, Democratic Republic of the

As the war grew into an increasing stalemate, government forces controlled less than half of the country.  Several rebel groups, the Congolese Rally for Democracy based in Goma (RCD/Goma), the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC), and the Congolese Rally for Democracy based in Bunia (RCD/ML) controlled the remaining territory, with the active military support of the Rwandan and Ugandan Governments.  The RCD/Goma remained dominated by members of the Tutsi ethnic minority and continued to be supported by the Government of Rwanda; the RCD/ML commanded fewer troops and, like the largely non-Tutsi MLC, was supported by the Government of Uganda.  War broke out in August 1998, when Kabila tried to expel Rwandan military forces that had helped him overthrow Mobutu.  Congolese Tutsis as well as the Governments of Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda all relied on the Rwandan military presence for protection against hostile armed groups operating from the eastern part of the ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

The Teke are spread over a large area north and northeast of Brazzaville. They are the most traditional of the ethnic groups, engaging in hunting and fishing.  Animistic worship is still predominant, although most of the urban population is Christian.  In rural areas, the Congolese live in small communities, having little outside contact. There are about 3,000 French nationals in the Congo. Public InstitutionsLast Updated:  6/13/2005 3:10 PM First inhabited by pygmies, the Congo was later settled by Bantu groups who also occupied parts of present-day Angola, Gabon, and the DRC.  Several Bantu kingdoms, notably those of the Kongo, the Loango, and the Teke, built trade links along the Congo River basin. The first European contacts came in the late 15th century, and commercial ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

The Democratic Republic of the Congo straddles the equator in the heart of central Africa and shares a border with nine other countries: the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Angola. Congo has access to the Atlantic Ocean on the west through a strip of territory that narrows to 13 miles wide at the coast. Its area includes the greater part of the Congo River Basin and covers 1,465,553 square miles-about the size of the U.S. east of the Mississippi River. ... [Read More]

David Goldiner, "Games for the Whole World" , U.S. Society and Values, December 2003

The international profile of American football got a boost from the launch of the NFL Europe league, which provides an opportunity for some European neophytes to play against somewhat lesser American professional talents. Many of the foreigners – 90 made preseason rosters in the NFL this season – are sons of immigrants from places like Mexico or West Africa. From Colonial TimesTeam sports were an early manifestation of life in colonial North America. Predecessor games to modern-day baseball and soccer were popular among the colonists in the early 18th century, decades before America's Declar ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

The Central African Republic is a constitutional democracy with a multiparty legislature, with president Ange-Felix Patasse as the head of state.  The C.A.R. has a very centralized government, with provincial governments having little if any authority on economic matters.  The political system consists of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.  The executive branch includes the President and the Prime Minister; the latter ostensibly leads the government.  The legislative branch is a unicameral National Assembly of 109 members.  The Judiciary consists of the constitutional court (the highest court), as well as civil, commercial, administrative, criminal, and financial courts. Following the military mutinies of 1996-97, free elections for the National Assembly and the presidency took place in December 1998 and September 1999, respectively, with moderate government oversight.  Of the more than 30 political parties in the Central African Republi ... [Read More]

Introduction

In Nigeria, the military regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar completed its transition to democratic civilian rule with the election and subsequent May inauguration of retired General Olusegun Obasanjo as President. In accordance with Abubakar's transition program, members of the new civilian Government were chosen in four elections held over a 3-month period. Elections for local Government leaders were held in December 1998, those for state legislators and governors in January, and those for national legislators and president in February. The elections, most notably the presidential election, were flawed, but most observers agreed that the election of Obasanjo as President reflected the will of the majority of voters. Several states saw limited gains. In Tunisia, the October presidential and legislative elections marked a modest step toward democratic development, with opposition presidential candidates allowed to participate in the presidential race for the first time in Tunisia's ... [Read More]

Remarks at the 2005 Global Classrooms: Washington, D.C. Model United Nations Conference

And so I think this is a wonderful program and I'm glad that you're all involved in it. It also gives you an opportunity to see what it might be like to have a future in public service. Public service is enormously important to our country, to the United States, where the participation in democracy is a key to making democracy work. But it is increasingly an important issue around the world because we are seeing the rise of democracy in places that no one ever thought possible. How could you not be impressed with the changes that have been taking place around the world, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine or the Rose Revolution in Georgia, or the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon, where the Lebanese people are just about to have an election at the end of this month. Where the people of Afghanistan in a place that is not a very developed country, where along dusty roads people stood in line for many, many hours just to cast a vote, where in Iraq people vote -- people faced down terrorism an ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

The Embassy has two boats with outboard motors available for rental. The Mussulo Peninsula has nice beaches off the main coast, just a short boat ride from the city. Several pristine and uncrowded beaches further south are accessible by road. Sport fishing is also popular, and the waters just off the coast have an abundant supply of many types of game fish. Anthropology and natural history museums are found downtown. There is a historic fort overlooking the bay. Other attractions outside of Luanda, but within the 20-km security limit, include the Slave Museum and the arts and crafts market. EntertainmentLast Updated:  11/14/2003 12:18 AM Entertainment in Luanda is limited. The CLO office has a small video and book library. The recreation trailer on the Miramar Compound has a combina ... [Read More]

Dominican Republic, 1-100

President: We’re not stopping them from running the government. Since last Saturday,/2/ Bosch lasted for a few hours, then Castro started operating; they got 45 more in there last night—trained, Castro-trained, Castro-operated people. We’re doing nothing to them. They started firing, they came in here last night and said to me at 7 o’clock that we’ve got 900 men, the most elite force in Santo Domingo holed up here in prison./3/ Now, what do we do about it? I said let’s protect them. "No, we can’t do that," because that would be partiality. I said, well let’s get them out and evacuate them and get them to another part of the island. Oh, we can’t do that because that would be sending our Navy in and the Ambassador says that would be showing partiality. And then I said, let’s get the Dominican Navy to evacuate them from the Communists. They said all right, we’ll do that. [At] 2:30 they called me and said they couldn’t get t ... [Read More]