
Latest Articles about Africa

Europol Identifies Security Threat to Europe from North Africa’s “Arab Spring”
Without food, employment or security, thousands of sub-Saharan Africans are taking to the sea in overcrowded and unseaworthy boats in desperate attempts to escape the violence in Libya. They are joining some 25,000 Tunisians who have already fled to the Italian islands of Lampedusa and... MORE

Jihadis Share Methods of Bringing Down U.S. Predators over Libya
Most jihadi internet forums have sections on training manuals and special postings for their members. When a jihadi operational priority arises, certain training tactics are typically discussed at length. Since the American deployment of the unmanned Predator drone in a military effort to protect Libyan... MORE

Russia Seeks China’s Support on Libya Crisis
On May 6 in Moscow, President Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov each received Lavrov’s Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi. According to Lavrov at the concluding news conference, Russia and China would “coordinate their actions” in the UN Security Council and beyond to support... MORE

NATO Clarifies Goals in Libya
NATO allies seek additional military, political, and financial means to overcome the unanticipated stalemate in Libya. Alliance leaders are also addressing incipient symptoms of fatigue with the seemingly protracted operation, conducted by an ad-hoc group of countries on NATO's collective behalf. At the same time,... MORE

Boko Haram Exploits Sectarian Divisions to Incite Civil War in Nigeria
Boko Haram carried out a series of attacks in northern Nigeria during the country’s elections, which began on April 9 with legislative elections and continued on April 16 and April 26 with presidential and gubernatorial elections. While Boko Haram has typically targeted government buildings, military... MORE

The Duo from Derna: Libya’s Émigré Jihadis Turned Internal Revolutionaries
During a U.S. Senate hearing on March 29, 2011 on the composition of Libya’s revolutionary rebel movement, EUCOM commander and NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Europe Admiral James Stavridis commented that intelligence informed him that there were “flickers” of transnational al-Qaeda jihadis operating in the... MORE

Russia Placing Itself Above the Fray in Libya
Russia has signaled that it can leverage its veto in the UN Security Council to entrap NATO in a protracted conflict in Libya. On April 26, Foreign Affairs Minister, Sergei Lavrov, told the media that Russia would not support a new Security Council resolution, if... MORE

Mapping Qaddafi’s Tribal Allegiances in Libya: An Overview
After announcing that Libyan troops had suspended operations in Misurata, an official of the Libyan government suggested that armed tribesmen loyal to the regime would soon take their place. It would then be up to the tribesmen to negotiate with the besieged rebels or to... MORE

The Jubaland Initiative: Is Kenya Creating a Buffer State in Southern Somalia?
Several reports circulated through the international media in early April indicating that a new semi-autonomous state, tentatively named Jubaland (or alternately “Azaniya”), would be created in southwestern Somalia to contain the Somali militant outfit Harakat al-Shabaab. Jubaland is purportedly being created by Kenyan authorities to... MORE

Circassian Activists in North Caucasus Explore Possibility of Repatriating Circassians in Libya
On April 21, Gazeta Yuga, a weekly newspaper that is published in Nalchik, reported on the continuing efforts of Circassian groups in Kabardino-Balkaria to help their ethnic kin stuck in the fighting in Libya. Some activists in the North Caucasus have proposed that Libyans of... MORE