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The Africa Center advances African security by expanding understanding, providing a trusted platform for dialogue, building enduring partnerships, and catalyzing strategic solutions.
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The Africa Center advances African security by expanding understanding, providing a trusted platform for dialogue, building enduring partnerships, and catalyzing strategic solutions.
An integrated reference handbook for policymakers, security practitioners, and scholars focused on strengthening maritime security in Africa.
The territorial waters of most Africa states are vulnerable because sovereign control is seldom fully exercised due to inadequate maritime domain awareness and response capacity. The magnitude of the threats will increase unless African governments enhance their security capacity.
“Maritime security is an integral part of a nation’s overall economic performance,” maritime security expert Loïc Moudouma said in a seminar held at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. He was speaking to a gathering of senior U.S. officials, academics and researchers and members of the African diplomatic corps. The seminar, titled “Africa’s Security and... Continue Reading
Dr. Noureddine Jebnoun, an Africa Center faculty member who focuses on governance and security in North Africa and the Sahel, authored an article titled “Changing Security Dynamics in North Africa and Western Sahel,” recently published in the Portuguese Journal of International Affairs, No. 8 (Spring/Summer 2014). In the article, Dr. Jebnoun provides an overview of... Continue Reading
The Africa Center for Strategic Studies cohosted a daylong symposium on “National Security Strategy: Development, Resourcing, and Implementation,” in partnership with the U.S. Embassy in Lilongwe and the Africa Center Malawi Community Chapter, September 10, 2013, at the Sunbird Capital Hotel in Lilongwe. The symposium convened a group of 60 security sector experts, including government... Continue Reading
Despite numerous peace agreements, Africa’s Great Lakes region has been in a persistent state of conflict for the past two decades. The contributions and shortcomings of some of the most significant previous peace initiatives, however, offer vital lessons as to how to mitigate the local level tensions, national political dynamics, and competing regional interests that have led to recurring outbreaks of violence.
Legacies of Côte d’Ivoire’s national identity crisis left this strategic West African country vulnerable to further instability.
Navigating Nigeria's inter-communal fault lines will entail measures to mitigate ethno-religious conflict as well as realize constitutional reform.
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.
(See more recent readings on this topic here.) Beyond Internal Conflict: The Emergent Practice of Climate Security By Joshua W Busby, Journal of Peace Research, December 28, 2020 Challenges to climate-related security include but are not limited to resource competition, shocks to food security, climate-induced migration, transboundary water management, and unintended consequences from climate policies.... Continue Reading
A significant development in Africa over the past decade has been the generalized lessening of violent conflict. Revitalized, expanded international peacekeeping, bolstered by a newly launched African Union determination to tackle security challenges, has reinforced this trend. But, much more cohesive interagency coordination under strong White House direction is required if the United States is to contribute to Africa’s sustained stability given the region’s persistent conditions of poverty, inequality, and weak governance.