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This paper addresses the issue of the relative absence of anthropologists in the formulation of HIV/AIDS policy and research in Africa. Initially, taking an historical perspective, it looks at the development of the main policy-making forums in the USA before turning to the more recent establishment of UNAIDS and its dominant role in setting the agenda for Africa. The implications for anthropological research are then considered in order to shed light on the reluctance which can be discerned in the discipline to get involved in research on AIDS. Turning to specific case material, the paper then examines AIDS educational strategies in Botswana to provide an illustration of the potential insights anthropology can bring to explain the success or failure of such campaings. Stressing the importance of the cultural constructions of the disease, it shows how the western AIDS message is interpreted by local populations not as neutral scientific „fact“ but as an aspect of political and ideological domination. In turn, this discussion raises the issue of the coexistence of different belief systems, especially in the sphere of medicine, their interrelations and the social contexts in which response to western messages is antagonistic as opposed to complementary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces this issue of the journal, which discusses environmental factors, particularly global environmental change, of migration patterns and movements, with several contributions focusing on Africa.

The establishment of a military command for Africa (US AFRICOM) symbolizes the radical repositioning of the US military. Facilitated by the consensus in contemporary Western foreign policies - that there can be no development without security - over the last ten years the US military has expanded its activities into civilian domains including development and conflict prevention. As a reaction to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, recent US military doctrines on counterinsurgency and stability operations have singled out the need for more civilian and long-term activities as a precondition for success. AFRICOM has put most of these „military innovations" into practice. Due to the command's focus on development activities, on civil-military coordination and its proposed engagement in non-war situations, in military circles AFRICOM is seen as a role model for future military practices. This paper problematizes the military's expanding mandate and discusses its implications. It argues that the military's increasing engagement in issues of governance and development deeply blurs the normative boundary between the military and the civilian and exposes development as a technology of security. Furthermore, the military's repositioning follows the dominant securitization of so- called „fragile states" and classifies social spaces along Western strategic interests. As a consequence, targeted communities find it hard to separate development efforts aimed at countering poverty and those aimed at countering insurgency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For most theorists of development the peripheral states are weak by definition and their weakness is a significant factor in the syndrome of underdevelopment. Recently, especially the states of the African continent are keen as paradigmatically „weak or „failed" or „collapsed" or „decaying" states. Therefore, the paper uses African case material to discuss the thesis of the structural weakness of the peripheral state. The conclusion is that African states are weak only insofar as their „regulative power" is concerned; insofar as their power to guarantee the accumulation of riches in the ruling classes is concerned, in contrast, they are definitely strong states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the panel "Grenzmissverständnisse in der Globalgeschichtsschreibung (ca. 1500-1900)" at the Deutscher Historikertag (Annual Meeting of the Verband der Historiker und Historikerinnen Deutschlands [VDH, German Historians' Association]), from September 28 to October 1, 2010, in Berlin. Several papers on the concepts of borders and frontiers in European imperialism and colonialism in Asia, Africa, and Australia, from the perspective of global history, were presented.

This article deals with the emerging local currency bond markets in Africa. It begins by exploring why these bond markets are a key element in the general project of deepening peripheral financial markets and an important building block for any further market-based development finance. In this context, the article also discusses the political, economic, and social consequences of these bond markets. Building on this, the text highlights the prominent role of German institutions in establishing these bond markets in Africa and interrogates the underlying interests. The article discusses the thesis that German capital factions have an interest in deepening peripheral financial markets in order to recycle their own surplus capital and open up new markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses links between environmental issues, particularly desertification, and migration in the Sahel region of Africa. The authors propose a methodological approach based on local perspectives from Mali and Senegal. Issues addressed include thick descriptions as modes of analysis in the history of migration, rural-urban migration in the two countries, particularly to the capital cities of Bamako, Mali, and Dakar, Senegal, and local knowledge about climate and weather changes, particularly in agriculture.

An article on the cultural history and ethnology of Africa is presented in which the author discusses the philosophical roots of ethnological research in the writings of late 1920s German ethnologist Leo Frobenius including "Documenta Africana". The author examines the memorial culture and monuments of postcolonial Nigeria, Senegal, and Mali and discusses the practice of iconoclasm and imperial violence associated with certain historical artifacts. The importance of visual media of various formats in Nigerian memorial culture is examined.

The use of planning and development paradigms during World War II is discussed. Special attention is paid to views on the so-called "development potential" of areas in Africa and Asia. It is noted that thinkers during the period around World War II believed that developing countries' economies could improve with good planning. The teachings of Saint Lucian economist Arthur Lewis regarding developing countries' potential for economic progress are discussed. Additionally, a description is given of the planning history for colonial administrations in Africa from World War II to the 1960s.