Gabon

List of Gabon articles

Gen. Brice Oligui Nguema salutes during his investiture as transitional president of  Gabon on Sept. 4, 2023 at the Presidential Palace in Libreville.
Gen. Brice Oligui Nguema salutes during his investiture as transitional president of Gabon on Sept. 4, 2023 at the Presidential Palace in Libreville.

Gabon’s Palace Coup

How the extended Bongo family ousted a president but maintained its control of the country.

Infantry soldiers following a British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK) training excercise at the Loldaiga conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya, on Nov. 14, 2022.
Infantry soldiers following a British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK) training excercise at the Loldaiga conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya, on Nov. 14, 2022.

A Challenge to British Impunity in Kenya

A parliamentary inquiry into an alleged 2012 murder by British soldiers is causing a diplomatic crisis for the U.K. government.

Protesters hold an anti-France placard during a demonstration on independence day in Niamey.
Protesters hold an anti-France placard during a demonstration on independence day in Niamey.

What’s Driving Africa’s Coups?

The factors that have contributed to instability in the region.

Macron and Bongo, both smiling, sit side by side. Macron is reaching over and grasping Bongo's hand in a friendly gesture.
Macron and Bongo, both smiling, sit side by side. Macron is reaching over and grasping Bongo's hand in a friendly gesture.

France’s Concern for Gabon’s Democracy Is Too Little, Too Late

Paris is complicit in the lack of social and democratic progress that prompted the coup.

Logging trucks carrying Okoume wood leave the Ivindo National Park near Makokou, Gabon.
Logging trucks carrying Okoume wood leave the Ivindo National Park near Makokou, Gabon.

Europe Needs to Clean Up at Home Before Pushing a Green Agenda Abroad

Norway is paying Gabon to halt deforestation while continuing to promote its own polluting industries.

jean-ping
jean-ping

On Calm in Gabon: ‘Wear Your Glasses, Scratch a Little Bit,’ Says Opposition Head

Gabonese opposition head Jean Ping wants international leaders to recognize him as his country's president—and can't say violence won't ensue if they don't.

(GERMANY OUT) Frederick Kempe (Präsident der US-Denkfabrik Atlantic Council) in der ZDF-Talkshow "Maybrit_Illner" am 05.02.2015 in BerlinThema der Sendung: Russland gegen den Westen - Europas Frieden in Gefahr? (Photo by Müller-Stauffenberg/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
(GERMANY OUT) Frederick Kempe (Präsident der US-Denkfabrik Atlantic Council) in der ZDF-Talkshow "Maybrit_Illner" am 05.02.2015 in BerlinThema der Sendung: Russland gegen den Westen - Europas Frieden in Gefahr? (Photo by Müller-Stauffenberg/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

The Atlantic Council Did Not Give a Global Citizen Award to Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba

And the allegation that we received funding to nominate him for the award is preposterous.

TOPSHOT - A woman cries over the body of Axel Messa, 30, wrapped in the flag of Gabon as he is laying on the ground, prior to a funeral procession, in a street of the Libreville district of Nzeng Ayong on September 2, 2016. His mother told AFP he was shot in front of his home on September 1, 2016 night.
Two men died after overnight clashes in Gabon's capital Libreville between security forces and demonstrators protesting President Ali Bongo's announced victory in a disputed election, witnesses and an AFP journalists said on September 2, 2016. The latest deaths take the toll up to five killed since riots and protests broke out on August 31, 2016 after Bongo was declared the winner of the weekend presidential vote by a razor-thin margin.
 / AFP / MARCO LONGARI        (Photo credit should read MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)
TOPSHOT - A woman cries over the body of Axel Messa, 30, wrapped in the flag of Gabon as he is laying on the ground, prior to a funeral procession, in a street of the Libreville district of Nzeng Ayong on September 2, 2016. His mother told AFP he was shot in front of his home on September 1, 2016 night. Two men died after overnight clashes in Gabon's capital Libreville between security forces and demonstrators protesting President Ali Bongo's announced victory in a disputed election, witnesses and an AFP journalists said on September 2, 2016. The latest deaths take the toll up to five killed since riots and protests broke out on August 31, 2016 after Bongo was declared the winner of the weekend presidential vote by a razor-thin margin. / AFP / MARCO LONGARI (Photo credit should read MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)

Gabon Is Recounting Its Votes, But the Ballots Were Already Burned

The Gabonese ambassador to the U.S. said the ballots have been burned but that a recount will take place -- just without observers.

Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of Gabon. Press conference after a working lunch on COP21 at Elysee Palace with African leaders. (Photo by Antoine Gyori/Corbis via Getty Images)
Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of Gabon. Press conference after a working lunch on COP21 at Elysee Palace with African leaders. (Photo by Antoine Gyori/Corbis via Getty Images)

Why Did the Atlantic Council Even Consider Giving African Dictator Ali Bongo Ondimba a ‘Global Citizen Award’?

Gabon’s president is an outlandishly corrupt autocrat who probably just stole an election. Why did a venerated Washington think tank offer to toast him at a black-tie gala?

PARIS, FRANCE - NOVEMBER 10: Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba (R) leaves Elysee Palace after a press conference with French President Francois Hollande (L) regard to the COP 21 meeting in Paris, France on November 10, 2015. (Photo by Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - NOVEMBER 10: Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba (R) leaves Elysee Palace after a press conference with French President Francois Hollande (L) regard to the COP 21 meeting in Paris, France on November 10, 2015. (Photo by Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

France’s Bongo-Bongo Party

As Gabon erupts in violence, the dark, twisted legacy tying this former colony to Paris is bubbling up to the surface.

GettyImages-115745817 (1)
GettyImages-115745817 (1)

Meet Ali Bongo Ondimba, Obama’s Man in Africa

In an exclusive interview with Foreign Policy, Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba talked U.S. military support and his father's controversial legacy.

Screen Shot 2015-02-05 at 2.07.23 PM
Screen Shot 2015-02-05 at 2.07.23 PM

Live from Yaoundé: A Different Kind of ‘Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie’

Young Cameroonian rappers are questioning why African leaders were quick to respond to the Charlie Hebdo attacks and not to the atrocities taking place on their own continent.

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