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Recommended research
published by Tuesday Reitano and Mark Shaw, Crime-Conflict Nexus Series No. 3, United Nations University Centre for Policy Research
on May 31, 2017
Libya has been carved into multiple tribal fiefdoms whose economies depend on internal and external flows of income, licit and illicit. The political rise of the previously marginalized Toubou by leveraging their control of the smuggling economy, for example, reveals the many ways local conflict dynamics influence and are influenced by external forces including organized crime. It also exposes the resulting disincentive the various parties have to rebuild a unified nation. Identifying and addressing the many layers of internal and external involvement in Libya’s fractionalization will help transition the “patchwork state” to a central state.
Spotlight
published by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies
on May 22, 2017
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.
Recommended research
published by UNODC
on December 31, 2016
This report from UNODC’s Afghan Opiate Trade Project, provides a baseline assessment of the Afghan opiates trade in Africa. It describes the key routes out of Afghanistan, through Eastern and Southern Africa and then West Africa and finally to markets in North America and Europe. Large ungoverned spaces make it difficult to fully assess the scope of the Afghan opiate trade and its impact on economies, governments, and people. African governments need to improve their capacity to track this trade, examining potential links between opiate traffickers and other forms of organized crime or insurgent and violent extremist groups. They also require assistance in determining the public health impact of this trade on their populations.
Recommended research
published by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies
on February 19, 2016
(See more recent readings on this topic here.) Tri-border Transit: Trafficking and Smuggling in the Burkina Faso–Côte d’Ivoire–Mali Region By Roberto Sollazzo and Matthias Nowak, Small Arms Survey, November 12, 2020 Violent Extremism, Organized Crime, and Local Conflicts in the Liptako-Gourma Region By William Assanvo, Baba Dakono, Lori-Anne Theroux-Bénoni & Ibrahim Maïga, Institute for Security... Continue Reading
Spotlight
published by Wendy Williams
on August 13, 2015
The phenomenon of migrants traversing the hostile terrain of northern Africa to Europe is not new—not the routes or the dangers. A decade ago, experts estimated that about 2,000 migrants drowned each year attempting to cross the Mediterranean and untold numbers perished in the desert. But after the collapse of the Gaddafi regime in 2011,... Continue Reading
Spotlight
published by Paul Nantulya
on May 28, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senior African security-sector leaders met with their U.S. counterparts for the annual African Executive Dialogue (AED), organized by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) in collaboration with the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM), and the U.S. Department of State. The three days of talks... Continue Reading
Africa Security Brief No. 27
published by Daniel Hampton
on April 30, 2014
Nearly half of all uniformed peacekeepers are African and countries like Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal, and South Africa have provided troops to UN and AU missions almost continuously over the past decade. Despite such vast experience, African peacekeepers are often reliant on international partners for training before they can deploy on these missions. Institutionalizing a capacity-building model within African defense forces is a more sustainable approach that maintains a higher level of readiness to respond to emerging crises and contingencies on the continent.
Africa Security Brief No. 24
published by Prosper Nzekani Zena
on January 31, 2013
DDR nitiatives are often under-prioritized and -conceptualized, contributing to the high rates of conflict relapse observed in Africa.
Africa Security Brief No. 12
published by Stephen Commins
on April 30, 2011
Estimates are that more than half of all Africans will live in cities by 2025. This rapid pace of urbanization is creating a new locus of fragility in many African states—as evidenced by the burgeoning slums around many of the continent’s urban areas—and the accompanying rise in violence, organized crime, and the potential for instability. These evolving threats, in turn, have profound implications for Africa’s security sector.