Executive summary: The battle for access and influence in the Horn of Africa is intensifying as the Gulf States, Turkey, and China race to secure footholds. At the same time, rivalries between Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, and Turkey are shaping how... MORE

Russia’s so-far ambiguous approach to Libya’s internal conflict, one of reassuring both sides of its continued support, has begun to shift with the deployment of Russian mercenaries backing “Field Marshal” Khalifa Haftar on the front lines of the battle for Tripoli. Despite Moscow’s search for... MORE

Preventing Spread of Terrorism in Coastal West Africa Brian M. Perkins A spate of deadly attacks by militant groups in Mali and Burkina Faso came just weeks after a key meeting of the Economic Community Summit of West African States (ECOWAS) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.... MORE

Eight months after the start of the anti-government protests in Algeria, the popular movement known as Hirak (the movement) is seeking to step up its actions. The standoff between Hirak and the regime is reaching an unprecedented climax. After Army Chief-of-Staff General Ahmed Gaid Salah... MORE

In July 2018, Kenya’s anti-terrorist police unit stormed a terrorist network suspected to be conducting financial operations for Islamic State (IS). After the operation, Waleed Ahmed Zein was identified as the network’s top leader. A 27-year-old man from the coastal city of Mombasa, Zein had... MORE

On July 11, 2019, Islamic State’s (IS) weekly publication al-Naba released a tribute to a “martyred” Sudanese fighter who had initially fought for IS’s West Africa wilaya (province) (ISWAP) and eventually was killed while fighting in Libya under the banner of the local wilaya there.... MORE

Almost six months into the conflict initiated in April by Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) against the UN-backed Government of the National Accord (GNA) to win control of Tripoli, the military situation in western Libya remains in a stalemate (See Terrorism Monitor, April 5).... MORE

In October 2013, President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) unveiled the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an ambitious plan to build infrastructure and improve transport connectivity in more than 60 countries across Asia and beyond. Since that time, the BRI has... MORE

As violence continues in northern Mozambique, a series of important developments that will undoubtedly affect the ongoing insurgency are beginning to unfold. The country is gearing up for its October 15 general elections, which will likely see the ruling party, the Mozambican Liberation Front (Frente... MORE

The term “political technology” prevalent across the former Soviet space, might perhaps be best described as “a euphemism for what is by now a highly developed industry of political manipulation.” The Kremlin has used this tool widely in Russia as well as in other former... MORE