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A virtual academic program on the development and implementation of national security strategy in Africa. This program will provide a forum for a multidisciplinary group of senior officials to explore National Security Strategy Development (NSSD) concepts and processes.
TICAD’s bottom-up, multisectoral, and co-partnership approach is welcome in Africa and offers a model for the value of long-term partnerships to strengthen development, peace, and security.
Russia’s strategic objective of degrading the model of democratic governance in Africa is frequently effected through the cooption of isolated African leaders.
The contours of African militant Islamist group violence are shifting, though maintaining a record pace of havoc resulting in an average of 14 violent events per day.
The coronavirus pandemic has spread rapidly since it arrived in Africa. This time series analysis tracks the logarithmic dissemination of COVID-19 across the continent.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS)’s limited resources are insufficient to fulfill its mandate. Barriers to UNMISS effectiveness include inflexible human resources policies, lack of freedom of movement due to obstacles set by South Sudanese government, and issues engaging with local communities. The problem of inadequate troops and civilian staff deployed to such a large country could be alleviated by a more mobile and responsive approach to achieving the mission’s mandate. Increased mobility, including rapid response capability, long-range patrols, and temporary remote deployments, requires support from the UN Secretariat and member states’ to succeed.
Development efforts to stabilize conflict-affected regions should focus on a wider geographic area than those that are most fragile. Strengthening the resilience of outlying regions can help prevent deterioration in these locations while providing a more solid base of support for areas affected by crisis. This may require intensifying agriculture and strengthening markets in peri-urban and rural areas where displaced persons are living. Private sector investments can also be encouraged in these areas by reducing the risks investors face. Development efforts must simultaneously amplify the voices of effective local leaders and institutions while improving public sector effectiveness.
China’s infrastructure deals are ubiquitous across Africa. The motivations behind these deals vary, however. This investigative report details how China leveraged the indebtedness of Sri Lanka to effectively force it to cede a port to China. The experience has implications for the debt trap many African countries face, especially with China, as well as for China's interest in acquiring strategic assets in Africa, military and intelligence interests in China’s commercial activity, oversight over major infrastructure and natural resource contracts including China’s Belt and Road Initiative on the continent, Chinese influence in foreign elections, and risks to African sovereignty.
China’s expanding involvement in Africa is an integral piece in President Xi Jinping’s grand strategy to restore the country to its perceived rightful place of global prominence.
Increasing narcotrafficking and a more active Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb are elevating concerns over instability in the Sahel. However, the region’s threats are more complex than what is observable on the surface. Rather, security concerns are typically characterized by multiple, competing, and fluctuating interests at the local, national, and regional levels. Effectively responding to these threats requires in-depth understanding of the multiple contextual layers in which illicit actors operate.
The use of United Nations–assessed contributions to support African Union–led peace operations has the potential to revitalize peace operations in Africa.
The ruling party’s revision of the Togolese Constitution eliminates universal suffrage for the presidency while effectively shifting to a parliamentary system that evades presidential term limits.