ISIS in Africa: Implications from Syria and Iraq
As ISIS’s influence and territorial control in the Arab world have waned, so too have its reputation and ideological appeal in Africa, writes the Africa Center’s Joseph Siegle.
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As ISIS’s influence and territorial control in the Arab world have waned, so too have its reputation and ideological appeal in Africa, writes the Africa Center’s Joseph Siegle.
Disinformation campaigns are popular among states accused of human rights violations and war crimes. None is more popular than the Russian template: a two-pronged approach that attacks the credibility of reporters of abuses as well as sows confusion about the reality of the abuse itself, thereby denying the possibility for any serious accounting. And yet, tech-enabled citizens can set the record straight. The collection of evidence—pictures, recordings, texts—can be crowd-sourced with the ubiquitous mobile phone. Combined with satellite imagery and international fact-finding missions, this evidence becomes irrefutable and can force accountability on states.
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Director of Research. Areas of Expertise: Democratization, Stabilization of Fragile States, Africa Security Trends, Security & Development, Countering Violent Extremism.
Maritime access gives Africa a major strategic advantage. Yet none of its 38 coastal states can fully claim sovereignty over territorial waters.
The Africa Center advances African security by expanding understanding, providing a trusted platform for dialogue, building enduring partnerships, and catalyzing strategic solutions.
Burundi’s SSD program proactively addresses the politics of reform at the policy and operational levels, and can inform other African SSR initiatives.
Airlift assets provide vital capabilities and multiply the effectiveness of Africa’s resource-limited militaries and collective peace operations.
Despite growing security concerns across the Sahel and Maghreb, regional security cooperation to address these transnational threats remains fragmented. Algeria is well-positioned to play a central role in defining this cooperation, but must first reconcile the complex domestic, regional, and international considerations that shape its decision-making.
African states’ maritime security structures are often misaligned with the challenges posed and need coast guard capabilities and an array of intra-governmental partnerships.
(See more recent readings on this topic here.) Army of Fake Fans Boosts China’s Messaging on Twitter By Erika Kinetz, Associated Press, May 12, 2021 Chinese officials around the world use Twitter and Facebook, which are blocked in China, to post about their country’s initiatives and defend it against controversy. But the seeming popularity of... Continue Reading
(See more recent readings on this topic here.) A Light in Libya’s Fog of Disinformation By Africa Center for Strategic Studies, October 9, 2020 Divisions within Libya’s civil war have been amplified by foreign-sponsored disinformation campaigns. Reconciliation and peacebuilding will require local actors to reclaim Libya’s digital spaces. Russian Disinformation Campaigns Target Africa: An Interview... Continue Reading