In a 2021 op-ed, we predicted that military coups and political unrest in West African countries like Guinea, Mali, and Burkina Faso signaled a recurring pattern of semi-democratic military rule. Recent military takeovers in Niger on July 26 and Gabon on August 30 have now affirmed this prediction. This raises a crucial question: are we… Read more »
Tag: Sahel
Curtains for Wagner: Can Russia’s Show in Africa Go On?
The fall of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group and its impact on Russian activities in Africa: diminished authority of President Putin, fading diplomatic influence, and declining mercenary power pose challenges to sustaining interventions on the continent. The abrupt end to the spectacular career of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the boss of the Wagner Group and the proprietor of a… Read more »
Soft Power and Disinformation: The Strategic Role of Media in Wagner’s Expansion in Africa
After its first steps on the African continent in Libya in 2017, the Wagner Group has been deployed in Sudan, Mozambique, Madagascar, the Central African Republic, and at the end of 2021 in Mali. This rapid expansion over the years contributes to the instability and insecurity in these regions. The paramilitary Russian group known for… Read more »
Russia, China and New Power Dynamics in the Sahel Region
France’s announcement to withdraw its forces from the Sahel in November 2022, alongside growing dissatisfaction with the nation’s presence in the region, opens the door for other actors to exercise greater influence in the Sahel and West Africa. As the security situation in the Sahel deteriorated dramatically over the past decade, the international response has… Read more »
The Ukraine Crisis and Its Impact on Africa’s Geopolitics: What Do We Know So Far?
“We are all living in Vladimir Putin’s world now” – Ivan Krastev On February 24, the world witnessed the full-fledged invasion of Ukraine led by the Russian President Vladimir Putin and his forces. Described as one of the most aggressive military acts seen in Europe since World War II, the military invasion of Ukraine has… Read more »
Misconception of Power and the Case of Guinea’s President Alpha Condé
On September 5th, President Alpha Condé was captured by the Guinean elite special force commander Col. Mamady Doumbouyah and his team. Col. Doumbouyah, the head of CNRD (National Committee of Reconciliation and Development) immediately dissolved the government, annulled the constitution, urged the former officials to report on the following day for a meeting, and insisted that… Read more »
Military Coups d’État and Guinea’s Rocky Road to Political Stability
While the fate of Guinea’s former President Alpha Condé remains unclear following a military coup on September 5, the ongoing political turmoil is most likely a beginning of a repetitive cycle of a semi-democratic military governance observed across West Africa. Security Defection: Domestic vs. International Community Reactions Guinea is, yet again, facing political uncertainty after… Read more »
Mali’s Coup Leaves a Leadership Vacuum: Can the country rebuild stronger?
In the early morning hours of Wednesday 19 August, the Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta (IBK) appeared on national TV to resign after a military junta had arrested him, the prime minister and several other members of the administration the day before. Motivated by dissatisfaction of military salaries and political corruption, the coup took place… Read more »
Compounding Fragmentation: New PRIO Policy Paper on Security Force Assistance to the Sahel and Horn of Africa
Since 2010 there has been an increase in both the intensity of conflict in the Sahel and Horn of Africa, and of the level of Western military intervention in the regions. Islamist insurgency has received most external attention, but the region has also been affected by inter-communal violence, organised crime, and trafficking. One of the… Read more »