Teaching Comparative Government

Are the limits on government capabilities in NIgeria imposed by politics? economics? cleavages? Nigeria floods kill more than 100 More than 100 people have died in floods after Nigeria's two major rivers burst their banks, authorities say. Flooding in Nigeria The National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) says heavy rains caused the Niger River and Benue River to overflow. It has resulted in a series of floods across the country over two weeks, with rural areas most vulnerable. The government is urging residents along waterways to relocate to safe places. Thousands of people have been displaced and vast swathes of farmlands have been destroyed by the floods in central and southern Nigeria, says the BBC's Is'haq Khalid in the capital, Abuja. Niger State Worst hit is Niger State, where more than 40 people have died, Nema director Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja told the BBC. Eleven other states have been affected… Nigerian authorities are considering declaring a state of emergency,...

What has the government in Iran done to deal with protest and dissatisfaction there? Iran Is Changing, but Not in Ways Trump Thinks President Trump says his decision to leave the nuclear agreement is already having a huge impact on Iran. He is right, Iranians say, but for the wrong reasons… [A]nalysts say there has been little or no change in Iran’s regional posture. The real impact to date has been on internal politics, with a repression on the slightest hints of dissent, and the economy, after the reimposition of sanctions. “A good economic and political process was underway in Iran,” said Mirzababa Motaharinezhad, a spokesman for Mardomsalary, a moderate political group. “Unfortunately, after Trump pulled out from the deal openness ended here and a crackdown on activists resumed.”… [I]n the small alleyways of Tehran’s bazaars and the luxury car dealerships in the affluent northern parts of the city, Mr. Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear agreement has definitely added to economi...

This is a great article that identifies cleavages and causes of conflict. Where are the conflicts happening? What are the causes? What factors limiting the government? Nigeria’s Farmers and Herders Fight a Deadly Battle for Scarce Resources Clashes between armed herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria are escalating to increasingly violent episodes as a battle for scarce resources stirs long-held tensions over religion and ethnicity… On Friday and Saturday night dozens of suspected armed herders, who are Muslim and of the Fulani ethnicity, descended from surrounding hills into several villages, opening fire, burning homes and shooting to death some people, most of them Christian and of the Berom ethnicity, as they slept. The killings immediately triggered reprisals as young people from the villages set up road blocks and killed anyone suspected of being Muslim and Fulani. One police commissioner in the area said at least five people died at checkpoints. Conflict between herders and farmers ov...