Executive Summary: Investigations of Hezbollah’s financing network over the last several years have identified three major funders of the terror group: Mohammad Bazzi, Talal Chahine, and Nazem Ahmad. The arrest of the former two and the destruction of the third’s network is expected to significantly... MORE

Executive Summary Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi is a prominent Hezbollah financier who operated money laundering schemes across Europe, West Africa, and the Middle East. He was arrested in Romania in February 2023 and subsequently extradited to the United States. The arrest of Bazzi and several other... MORE

Executive Summary Due to their wealth of critical natural resources (primarily rare earth minerals), rapidly growing populations (labor and consumer markets) and strategic geographic location, many Francophone and Lusophone countries in Africa occupy strategic roles for China and its large businesses operating in, among others,... MORE

Executive Summary China`s strategic interests in Sub-Saharan Africa are diverse and, while still being primarily guided by the need to maintain access to locally extracted raw materials, now go beyond this goal. In fact, growing investments in infrastructure, manufacturing and green energy are likely to... MORE

According to numerous analyses published by think tanks and journals in the United States and Europe, Russia lost its African adventure before it even started. Purportedly, Russia lacks the resources with which to compete in Africa against the United States and China, acts there in... MORE

Low-intensity conflicts can be among the most resistant to resolution. A case in point is the 36-year separatist struggle in Casamance, the southern region of Senegal. While the conflict has veered between ceasefires and flare-ups, one man, Salif Sadio, has dedicated himself to keeping the... MORE

The inauguration of Adama Barrow as president in the Gambia in January 2017 heralded a new era for the country, ruled previously for 22 years by strongman Yahya Jammeh. Among Barrow’s first actions in office was to reverse Jammeh’s declaration that the Gambia was an... MORE