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Militant Islamist group activity in Africa continues to be highly context-specific. Those with strong local ties have shown considerable resilience, while ISIS has struggled to gain traction in the Maghreb.
Program materials for the Africa Center's 2017 Security Governance Initiative: Partners Seminar. Click here for syllabus, bios, readings, and slides.
Drug trafficking is a major transnational threat in Africa that converges with other illicit activities ranging from money laundering to human trafficking and terrorism.
Former Malian Defense Chief of Staff General Mahamane Touré reflects on lessons learned from Mali’s counter insurgency efforts in the North.
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Assistant Research Fellow. Areas of Expertise: Peace operations, stability operations, security sector reform, UN sanctions, UN expert panels, countering violent extremism, counterterrorism, West Africa, Central Africa, and the Sahel Africa.
A review of violent events involving militant Islamist groups in Africa over the past year reveals a mixed picture, with some groups showing increased activity and others diminished. This variance underscores the importance of local factors affecting each context.
The effects of desertification are widespread and growing worse, contributing to heightened resource competition, conflict, and hunger.
The distinction between legitimate and illicit business in Africa is fluid due to the significant size of informal trade on the continent. At the same time, globalization has allowed organized criminal groups to link up with international networks, including violent extremists.
Program materials for the Africa Center's 2017 Senior Leaders Seminar. Click here for readings, slides, and video of presentations.
A review of militant Islamist group activity in Africa over the past year reveals considerable variation and a geographic concentration.
ISIS has affirmed its intention to expand operations into Africa, but a review of militant group activity on the continent suggests that it will be challenged to do so.
As ISIS’s influence and territorial control in the Arab world have waned, so too have its reputation and ideological appeal in Africa, writes the Africa Center’s Joseph Siegle.