Violent Extremism in Africa

Afrobarometer published in June 2016 a study titled "Violent Extremism in Africa: Public Opinion from the Sahel, Lake Chad, and the Horn" by Stephen Buchanan-Clarke and Rorisang Lekalake.

The paper analyzes new opinion data from three of Sub-Saharan Africa's regional hotspots of terrorist and extremist activity: Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin; Ansar Dine, AQIM, and Mourabitoun in the Sahel; and al-Shabaab in the Horn of Africa. The study contains useful public opinion data on a variety of related issues.

Countering Extremism in Africa

The George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute published a useful reminder on 6 March 2013 titled "Pardon the Pivot, What about Africa? African Lessons for Avoiding Myopic National Security."  The authors are Frank Cilluffo, Joseph Clark and Clinton Watts. 

The analysis offers a good summary of the security threats that exist in Africa, especially the Sahel region, and suggests a number of questions that need better answers.  In my view, the most important question is what are the political, economic, environmental, social, religious and cultural issues that create a safe haven for extremist groups in Africa.  In other words, what are the root causes of extremism?  Once an answer to this question is agreed upon, it might be possible to make some real progress in combating extremism in the region.

China Radio International Panel Discussion on African Sahel

China Radio International asked me to participate on 31 January 2013 in an hour long panel discussion of recent developments in the Sahel region of Africa.  The other panelists were Ayo Johnson, director of Viewpoint Africa in London, and Antoine Lokongo, a researcher at the Center for African Studies at Peking University in Beijing.  The discussion focused on efforts by African countries, France and the United States to counter terrorism in the region.

Click here to access a recording of the discussion.

Analysis of Situation in Mali and Algeria

Krechba gas plant, Algeria/Flickr

Anouar Boukhars, a non-resident scholar in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, published on 23 January 2013 a good analysis titled What's Next for Mali and Algeria?

He concluded that the message from the attack on the gas field at In Amenas in Algeria was clear.  Algeria will be firm in dealing with terrorists, but its counterterrorism units are not trained for rescue missions that require precision and utmost care to minimize civilian casualties.  The hostage crisis demonstrated the limits of Algeria's approach to fighting violent extremism.  Algeria only succeeded in internationalizing its war with the Islamists.

Boukhars added that the ruling class in Bamako seems more interested in recapturing the north of Mali and "restoring an intolerable status quo ante than in facilitating national reconciliation, recovery, and reconstruction."

Boko Haram and Links to Al-Shabaab

Jacob Zenn, an analyst with The Jamestown Foundation in Washington wrote a good piece on Boko Haram in the 14 January 2013 issue of the CTC Sentinel.  While it focuses primarily on Nigeria and Boko Haram links in the Sahel region, it provides some evidence of cooperation between Boko Haram and al-Shabaab.  Zenn argues in Boko Haram's International Connections that Boko Haram received training in Somalia from al-Shabaab, which led to the suicide bombing of the Federal Police headquarters and the UN headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria.