Countering Violent Extremism: Lessons Learned and Ways Forward

Terrorism and violent extremism remain among the most significant threats to peace and security in Africa. Over the past decade, the number of militant groups—including affiliates of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State—has grown, and their geographic footprint has expanded across the continent. The influence of these groups is not confined to the areas where they originate. Through increasingly sophisticated and transnational networks, they raise, conceal, and move financial resources; recruit members; plan and conduct operations; destabilize states; disrupt critical trade and logistics routes; and provide safe havens for global terrorist activity.

African states have and continue to take significant steps to counter and prevent terrorism, often at great sacrifice and considerable costs in lives and resources. While notable progress has been made, many terrorist groups have remained resilient and have expanded their reach beyond the areas of their immediate control. Defense and security forces continue to face obstacles to preventing and countering terrorism, including persistent capacity and coordination gaps, difficulties implementing whole-of-government approaches and challenges adapting defense and security strategies at the speed and scale needed to keep pace with terrorist groups.

The Africa Center for Strategic Studies’ Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism Program provides practical skills, tools, models and strategies to enhance coordinated action by African defense and security forces, civilian authorities, and other relevant actors to prevent, detect, disrupt and degrade terrorism and violent extremism. Through interactive webinars, bilateral engagements, focused regional workshops, toolkits, and educational curricula, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies informs and prepares security practitioners to confront the threat posed by resilient, capable, and increasingly transnational terrorist groups.

Specifically, the Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism Program’s objectives are to:

Impart skills, tools, models, and strategies that enhance coordinated whole-of-government responses aimed at preventing and countering terrorism.
Strengthen the capacity of military and civilian defense and security sector actors to translate strategic priorities into coordinated operational action against terrorism.
Enhance the ability of national and regional defense and security actors to anticipate, detect, and disrupt transnational terrorist networks by strengthening analytical, information-sharing, and adaptive decision-making capacities.

Lessons Learned from CVE in Central Africa
Webinar
May 18, 2023

Lessons Learned from CVE in the Lake Chad Basin
Webinar
January 19, 2023

Lessons Learned from Countering Violent Extremism in Coastal West Africa
Webinar
November 3, 2022

Understanding the Fractured Landscape of Violent Extremism in the Lake Chad Basin
Webinar
October 13, 2022

Sizing Up the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS)
Webinar
June 2, 2022

Assessing Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) Coalition in the Sahel
Webinar
April 7, 2022

Developing Local Strategies to Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) in Africa
Virtual Academic Program
January 25–February 16, 2022

Why Al-Shabaab Persists in Somalia Webinar
Academic Webinar
December 9, 2021

Understanding the Origins of Violent Extremism in Cabo Delgado
Academic Webinar
October 29, 2021

Gender Dimensions of Countering Violent Extremism in Africa
Academic Webinar
September 22, 2021

Implementing Regional Strategies to Counter Violent Extremism and Terrorism
Academic Webinar
May 27, 2021

Disengaging Violent Extremists
Academic Webinar
April 29, 2021