Turkey Courts African States as France Seeks EU Partners  Brian M. Perkins Turkey’s increasingly assertive military and economic role has seen the balance of power across several key regions begin to shift, particularly in the Mediterranean and the Maghreb, where Ankara’s role in Libya has... MORE

On July 20, the Egyptian Parliament authorized the deployment of Egyptian armed forces outside of the country. The bill made no mention of Libya (Arab News, July 21). Nonetheless, the authorization serves as a proverbial shot across the bow for Turkey and Qatar, which support... MORE

Shaykh Hassan Hussein Adam is an ideological and spiritual leader of al-Shabaab who has done the most to shape how the Somalia-based militant group has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. His opinion on the virus is the latest missive from the 41-year-old cleric whose past... MORE

Introduction In recent years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has emerged as a leading producer of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms for both commercial and military use, and its technologies are being used in unprecedented ways. For example, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to... MORE

The need for a military intervention in northern Mozambique is becoming more clear with each passing week, particularly after Islamic State Central Africa Province (IS-CAP) captured the key port of Mocimboa da Praia on August 12 following  several days of fighting that killed more than... MORE

Introduction The success of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) in forcing the withdrawal of the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) from northwestern Libya has led to a temporary détente in the conflict. As GNA officials contemplate an assault on the strategic city of... MORE

The tempo of al-Shabaab’s operations in Somalia has steadily increased, despite a dramatic escalation in U.S.-led drone strikes in Somalia. In July alone, al-Shabaab targeted the head of Somalia’s military and launched attacks on five different targets in a single day (al-Jazeera, July 13). The... MORE

Abdelmalek Droukdel (a.k.a. Abu Musab Abdel Wadud) was the leader of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) since 2006—or since 2004, if his stint leading AQIM’s predecessor, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), is included. His death was announced on June 11, and... MORE

The military offensive launched by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar in April 2019 to conquer western Libya has failed (see TM, April 5, 2019). For months, Haftar and his forces enjoyed a clear strategic advantage: more fighters, more mercenaries, more external support, and more significant financial... MORE

On June 14, a U.S. drone strike in Syria’s Idlib province killed Abu al-Qassam al-Urduni, a top al-Qaeda figure who was a commander of al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din. The death of al-Urduni, a.k.a. Khalid al-Aruri, follows those of prominent al-Qaeda leaders Abu al-Khayr al-Masri and... MORE