The Maghreb’s Fragile Edges
Persistent economic and social disparities between urban centers and outlying communities present an ongoing source of instability for countries in the Maghreb.
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Persistent economic and social disparities between urban centers and outlying communities present an ongoing source of instability for countries in the Maghreb.
Responding to budgetary constraints, the European Union announced in January 2016 that it would decrease the amount of AMISOM contingent stipends from $1,028 per troop per month to $822 per month. The EU’s decision has motivated AMISOM leadership, along with EU and other partners, to develop a clearer strategy for AMISOM’s eventual withdrawal, including an increased focus on building the capacity of Somali security forces. The international community must find ways to avoid overburdening the EU, whose monthly support to AMISOM has increased from €5 million per month in 2010 to €25 million per month in 2017, so that donor fatigue does not contribute to mission failure.
Zimbabwe's recent political crisis has provided a lens into the challenges many African countries face in transitioning from their founding liberation movement political structures to genuine, participatory democracies.
The DRC’s political crisis has galvanized and revived many of the estimated 70 armed groups currently active in the country, making the nexus between political and sectarian violence by armed militias a key feature of the DRC’s political instability.
Despite their shortcomings, African peace operations have saved lives, built security sector capacity, and helped mitigate conflict—reducing pressure on international actors to become directly involved.
Despite the serious humanitarian and economic tolls generated by Burundi’s crisis, the reaction of its neighbors has been remarkably subdued.
As senior French representative, Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Baptiste Matton serves as a liaison between the Africa Center and the French Ministry of Defense, coordinating exchanges on security-related Africa policy and scholarship. He also serves as a facilitator and speaker at Africa Center academic programs.
As the Kenyan electoral campaign headed into the homestretch, prospects for violence were mixed. The Africa Center’s Dorina Bekoe offers an assessment.
Program materials for the Africa Center's 2017 program, Maritime Safety and Security Inter-regional Cooperation Centers. Click here for syllabus, bios, readings, and slides.
Islamist terrorist groups in the Sahel and Sahara are attempting to exploit pastoralist grievances to mobilize greater support for their agenda, write Kaley Fulton and Benjamin Nickels.
Part 3. The DRC’s nascent institutional checks and balances are too weak to curb executive overreach. And when state institutions are compromised, reform must come from the outside.
Part 2. The DRC’s oversight institutions have been actively undermined by the ruling party, dimming prospects for a genuine democratic transition.