Two years have gone by since the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) sounded an alarm about West Africa's role in the international drug trade. In 2007, the UNODC published a report identifying the Portuguese-speaking state of Guinea-Bissau in particular as an emerging narco-state that provided a convenient halfway stop for Latin American drug traders exporting to Europe.
After months of internal debate, mounting impatience among U.S. activist groups, and rapidly approaching deadlines in the Sudanese Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the Obama administration unveiled its strategy toward Sudan this week, calling for frank dialogue with the government in Khartoum and promising “calibrated steps to bolster support for positive change and to discourage backsliding.”
