Over the past two years, the most significant political development in the Middle East has been Russia’s increasing political and military presence. Aside from its deepening military and political footprint in Syria, Russia is improving its relations with Egypt, where, beginning on October 15, the... MORE

The Nigerian government announced in August that it had resumed amnesty payments to former militants in the Niger Delta, many of them members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) (Naija Headlines, August 4). It had significantly reduced the amount of... MORE

In the mountains of northern Somalia, Shaykh Abdulqadir Mumin, a former al-Shabaab ideologue, is an up-and-coming leader of the emerging Islamic State (IS) cell in East Africa. Reports indicate that Mumin, who is believed to be in his late 50s, was born in Puntland, a... MORE

South Sudan achieved independence in July 2011, but the era of peace most citizens had hoped the event would initiate remains elusive, thanks in large part to the ravages imposed by both a tribally oriented government and a slew of warlords with outsized personal ambitions.... MORE

KENYA: SEEKING PARTNERS FOR A NEW TERROR STRATEGY Jordan’s King Abdullah has promised greater counter terrorism support to Kenya during a meeting with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi. The visit has received a good deal of publicity in Kenya, where the two leaders were... MORE

During the past six years, Boko Haram has been principally operational in Nigeria and, to a lesser extent, in neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Now, beyond Nigeria and its border regions, Senegal has unexpectedly become a country where the group is attempting to expand its... MORE

Kenya has launched a new strategy aimed at preventing violent extremism, unveiling it against a background of increased threats from Somalia’s al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab, home-grown militants and, more recently, suspected Islamic State (IS) sympathizers (The Star, September 16). President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the strategy on... MORE

Africa has never been a particularly high foreign policy priority for the Russian Federation. This is mainly due to a lack of resources and capacity in Moscow; for if those were present, an ambition to aspire to a role on the continent commensurate with that... MORE

Though Nigeria’s southern Delta region has abundant oil reserves that should provide amply for the future of both the region and the nation, the Delta has become consumed by environmental degradation, unrestrained oil theft, destruction of infrastructure and a new wave of anti-government militancy complicated... MORE

INDONESIA: LONE-WOLF ATTACKS SHOW NEED FOR GREATER DERADICALIZATION EFFORTS On August 28, an 18-year-old Indonesian man attempted to stab a Roman Catholic priest during a church service in Medan, in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, an attack reminiscent of one carried out by Islamic State (IS)... MORE