About the Author

Emile Ouédraogo is a parliamentarian in the National Assembly of Burkina Faso and with the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja, Nigeria. Formerly, he served as Minister of State Security in Burkina Faso from 2008 to 2011. He retired as a Colonel from the Armed Forces of Burkina Faso after serving in the infantry corps and as a specialist in operational intelligence. During his service, he received numerous decorations, including the Military Honor Medal, and the Police Honor Medal and participated in various training courses in Canada, Ghana, France, Mali, Nigeria, Russia, and the United States. He also served in uniform as a UN peacekeeper in in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He earned a Ph.D. in International Relations at the Center for Strategic and Diplomatic Studies (CEDS) in Paris, France.