The Foreign Service Journal, June 2012

12 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 1 2 freezingMali’s bank accounts with sup- port from the United States and France ( www.cnn.com ). As a result of the international pres- sure, the junior officers behind the coup have been forced to step down and sign an accord returning Mali to constitutional rule. This does not presage a return to power by Pres. Touré, however, for he has now gone into exile in Senegal. National Assembly leader Dion- counda Traore will serve as temporary president for a maximum of 40 days to organize elections, and has named for- mer NASA astrophysicist CheickMod- ibo Diarra as interim prime minister. (Microsoft named Diarra its “ambas- sador to Africa” in 2006.) Nigeria’s strong support for sanc- tions against Mali reflects widespread fears that it could suffer a similar coup, as has happened several times before. Blogging for the Council on Foreign Relations, Africa expert Jim Sanders points out that Nigeria also faces a rebel movement in its northern region that poses a real threat to stability. The frustration of younger officers who re- sent the inaction of their civilian lead- ers could trigger a similar reaction there ( www.blogs.cfr.org ). Considered in a larger context, Mali may also stand as an example of both the fragility of African democracies and the destabilizing potential of the Arab Spring. Writing in the Eurasia Review , Haverford College Professor Emeritus Harvey Glickman says that nearly every country in Africa with a large Muslim population faces similar challenges. He adds that the Tuareg people are spread out over Algeria, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Niger, and many of them have supported similar separatist movements in those countries ( www.eurasiareview.com ). —David J. Barton, Editorial Intern Your Council of Councils The Council on Foreign Relations ( www.cfr.org ) re cently launched a worldwide partnership made up of 19 of the world’s leading foreign policy or- ganizations. The purpose of the broad partnership, known as the Council of Councils, is to find common ground on shared threats, build support for inno- vative ideas, and inject remedies into the public debate and policymaking processes of member states. The 18 nations from which mem- bers of the new organization hail are similar to those in the Group of 20. (The United Kingdom is the only na- tion to have fielded two think-tanks: ChathamHouse and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.) Many of the foreign policy bodies participat- C Y B E R N O T E S WWW.AFSA.ORG When contacting an advertiser, kindly mention the Foreign Service Journal. AFSA Insurance Plans hirshorn.com/afsa AFSA Scholarship http://www.afsa.org/Scholar- ships/PlannedGiving.aspx AKA Hotel residences stay-aka.com Clements Worldwide clements.com Diplomatic automobile DiploSales.com McGrath Real Estate Services McGrathRealEstate.com ProMax promaxrealtors.com Tetratech Tetratech.com WJD wjdpm.com 50 Years Ago... Tyler Thompson, referring to the speaker at the Foreign Service luncheon on March 29, said: “Ed Murrow gave a witty and impressive talk to a capacity audience. He began by confess- ing that his voice had been described as a combination of a whisky baritone and an unfrocked bishop.” — From “Service Glimpses” by James B. Stewart, FSJ , June 1962.