ACSS Professor of Transnational Threats Dr. Benjamin Nickels examines the several interrelated challenges that together drive the Sahel’s complex crises, such as the one now unfolding in Mali, in a new research publication from the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.
ACSS Research Director authors article with Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy on the implications of increased access to information on volatility and security in fragile states.
African democratizers have faced a series of setbacks in recent years. Still democratization efforts are resilient. In two-thirds of the cases, backsliders resume their democratic progress within a few years. Sustaining genuine democratization, therefore, requires maintaining momentum for reform, which depends on an active civil society and independent media. These actors are often under threat of intimidation and violence, however. Strengthening protections for journalists and civil society leaders must become a higher priority if democracy is to continue advancing in Africa.
ACSS Director of Research, Joseph Siegle, has authored a recently published article, “Overcoming Dilemmas of Democratization,” in the Nordic Journal of International Law. The essay examines the vulnerability of democratic transitions to reversals and the means by which domestic and international policies can minimize these outcomes.
The Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab may be on the decline but defeating the organization – and preempting a successor – requires strategic planning. To facilitate that process, this paper recommends assessing anti–al-Shabaab counterterrorism measures, harmonizing priorities among regional and international stakeholders, and exploiting divisions within the remnants of al-Shabaab.
A growing body of multidisciplinary research is reinforcing the understanding that institutions of accountability are instrumental to achieving sustained development and stability. However, the starting point for many contexts of limited statehood – autocratic legacies, low social capital, and cultures of impunity – indicates that these societies are poorly positioned for progress. This paper examines the processes and types of accountability structures that have emerged in selected contexts of limited statehood. It does so by presenting a conceptual framework of key state-based and non-stated based mechanisms of public accountability.
Military coups in Mali and Guinea-Bissau have overshadowed a deepening institutionalization of democratic processes in Africa over the past decade. These advances have been augmented by a growing commitment by Africa’s regional bodies to uphold emerging democratic standards. The Arab Spring, likewise, sparked a broader debate about the legitimate claims on authority across the continent. These crosscurrents reflect an ongoing struggle for governance norms in Africa that will require active engagement from African reformers and international partners to sustain Africa’s democratic trajectory.
Elections and Democratization in West Africa: 1990-2009 by A. Saine, B. N’Diaye and Mathurin C. Houngnikpo. Africa World Press, March 2011.
[LINK]
Guarding the Guardians: Civil-Military Relations and Democratic Governance in Africa by Mathurin C. Houngnikpo, The Africa Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University. Ashgate, October 2010.
[LINK]
L’Afrique au Futur Conditionnel by Mathurin C. Houngnikpo. L’Harmattan, October 2011.
[LINK]
