The Michael S. Ansari Africa Center hosted a luncheon presentation by Hussein Solomon, senior professor in the department of political science at the University of the Free State in South Africa, on “The African State and the Failure of US Counterterrorism Initiatives in Africa.”

Drawing upon his recent research on Mali, Nigeria, and Somalia, among other countries, Dr. Solomon highlighted the limits of a US policy towards Africa heavily dominated by a counterterrorism focus, noting that such an approach may indeed be counterproductive to larger counterinsurgency objectives. In the subsequent roundtable discussion—which included current and past senior officials from the State Department and the Department of Defense, as well as Congressional staffers—the need for a multi-faceted approach was underscored.