Mali: Learning from the Withdrawals of UN Peacekeeping Missions in Mali and the DRC

The host countries of two of the United Nations' flagship peacekeeping missions recently demanded their withdrawal. This development raises questions about whether such missions… Read more »

Africa: Red Sea Tensions - 4 Scholars Explain What's At Stake for Global Trade and Security

The Red Sea region is a geopolitical hotspot. It holds strategic maritime importance as a global trade transit route and plays a crucial role in the broader region's security and… Read more »

West Africa: Chad's Break With France - Why It Happened and What It Means for Power Dynamics in the Sahel Region

For over six decades, Chad was a crucial ally to French and US forces in their counter-insurgency operations in the Sahel. But both lost influence because of repeated mistakes. Read more »

Nigeria: How to Stay Safe During Nigeria's Festive Season - 4 Tips From a Security Expert

Festive season is here again. During the last quarter of the year (a period popularly called the "ember months" in Nigeria - a reference to the last letters of the words September,… Read more »

Ethiopia: Will Al-Shabaab Get Stronger in Ethiopia? Two Reasons Why It's Unlikely

There have been numerous reports of arrests of al-Shabaab insurgents, the dismantling of an al-Shabaab terrorist network and interception of arms in Ethiopia in 2024. Reports have… Read more »

Africa: Researchers of Tobacco, Alcohol and Ultra-Processed Foods Face Threats and Intimidation - New Study

Cancer, heart disease, chronic respiratory conditions, diabetes and stroke now account for nearly three-quarters of all deaths globally. Investigating the causes of these diseases… Read more »

West Africa: Gabon's Coup Leaders Have Changed the Constitution to Entrench Their Power

More than a year after a military coup, Gabonese citizens have held a referendum in which they approved a new draft constitution. The constitutional revisions targeted dynastic… Read more »

West Africa: Terrorism Is Spreading in West Africa - Foreign and Regional Collaboration Are Needed to Fight the Threat

The United States army has completed its withdrawal from Niger after 11 years of military cooperation with the west African country. Read more »

Africa: Protecting Victims of Conflict - How African Value Systems Could Strengthen Humanitarian Law

International humanitarian law seeks to limit the excesses of warfare and regulate the conduct of armed hostilities. But it is often ignored. Using ethnographic case studies from… Read more »

Africa: Russian Mercenaries Have a Bad Reputation but Some African Regimes Still Employ Them - Study Explores Why

Russian mercenaries, like the Wagner group, have an awful reputation. Multiple western outlets have reported on their military ineffectiveness, their abysmal human rights record,… Read more »

Sudan: Sudan's National Treasures Have Been Stolen - We Spoke With the Director of Museums

In September, amid the ongoing war in Sudan, reports began to surface of the looting of the Sudan National Museum in the capital, Khartoum. The museum is internationally celebrated… Read more »

Africa: Military Rule Is On the Rise in Africa - Nothing Good Came From It in the Past

In the last few years, there has been a spate of military coups in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Sudan and Guinea. Military rule, long dormant in African politics, is back. Read more »

Nigeria: Nigeria's Terror Group Lakurawa Is Nothing New - It Exists Because of Government's Failure - Analysts

The Nigerian army has spoken of attacks on the Niger-Nigeria border in 2024 as being carried out by a new terrorist group. Read more »

South Sudan: Salva Kiir - South Sudan's President Fought for Independence, but Then Fuelled Division, Violence and Corruption

Salva Kiir Mayardit has served as South Sudan's president since the country's independence in 2011. South Sudan's secession from Sudan came on the heels of a long and bloody civil… Read more »

Sudan: Sudan's Civil War Has Left At Least 62,000 Dead By Our Estimate - but the True Figure Could Be Far Higher

The ongoing war in Sudan has often been overlooked amid higher-profile conflicts raging across multiple continents. Yet the lack of media and geopolitical attention to this… Read more »

Mozambique: Mozambique's 2024 Elections - 9 Major Challenges That Will Face the New President

Daniel Chapo, Mozambique's incoming president, faces an array of interconnected problems deeply rooted in historical, socioeconomic, and political dynamics. Read more »

Congo-Kinshasa: Rwandan-Backed M23 Rebel Group Seeks Local Power in DRC, Not Just Control Over Mining Operations

The violence wrought by the Rwandan-backed rebel group M23 Movement is often narrowly framed as intended to control eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's resource-rich mining… Read more »

Africa: War and the Supernatural - Former Congolese Soldiers Recall the Ritual Practices Used to Prepare for Battle

War takes a toll on soldiers' bodies and minds. To prepare for battle, soldiers are taken through various forms of training. Part of this training aims to strip candidates of their… Read more »

Africa: Civilian Support for Military Coups Isn't a Bug - It's a Feature

In September 2024, authorities in Benin detained the country's former sports minister and a prominent businessman for allegedly plotting a coup against the West African nation's… Read more »

Kenya: Kenya's Female Freedom Fighters Were the Silent Heroes of the Anti-Colonial Movement - Here Are Some of Their Stories

Each year in Kenya, familiar faces are feted at the national remembrance of the country's heroes and heroines. Dedan Kimathi is arguably the most commemorated of figures. As one of… Read more »

East Africa: Egypt-Ethiopia Hostilities Are Playing Out in the Horn - the Risk of New Proxy Wars Is High

Egypt recently deepened its involvement in the war-weary Horn of Africa by arming Somalia and deploying its troops in the embattled country. To Ethiopia's growing alarm, Egypt is… Read more »

Ghana: Ghana's Informal Settlements Are Not All the Same - Social Networks Make a Difference in Community Development

Informal settlements in Africa are diverse. Across regions and even in the same city, socioeconomic and physical conditions vary. One thing is common though: upgrading them is a… Read more »

Sudan: Sudan's Brutal War Has Become Many Wars, Making Peace Even Harder to Reach

Sudan's war runs grimly on. The two main protagonists (though there are others involved) are each claiming local victories. The Sudanese army appears to be slowly regaining control… Read more »

South Africa: Anglo-Boer War - How a Bloody Conflict 125 Years Ago Still Shapes South Africa

The 125th anniversary of the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 is marked on 11 October 2024. Also known as the South African War or the Second Boer War, the brutal conflict between the… Read more »

East Africa: Refugees in East Africa Suffer From High Levels of Depression, Making It Harder to Rebuild Lives - New Study

By the end of 2023, more than 100 million people globally had been forced to flee their homes due to war, violence, fear of persecution, and human rights violations. Read more »