Africa Center Commentary & Analysis

Through high-level relationships and a track record of well-respected analysis, the Africa Center speaks directly to the stakeholders who matter, shaping policy on the foremost issues of this dynamic continent.

New Atlanticist

Feb 25, 2013

Niger needs more than drones

By J. Peter Pham

President Barack Obama informed Congressional leaders on Friday that approximately one hundred American military personnel have been deployed to Niger to “provide support for intelligence collection and . . . facilitate intelligence sharing with French forces conducting operations in Mali, and with other partners” fighting al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its allies. While […]

National Security Sahel

New Atlanticist

Feb 4, 2013

Mali: Mission (pas) accomplie

By J. Peter Pham

The triumphalism of French President François Hollande’s visit over the weekend to the fabled desert city of Timbuktu less than a week after French forces pushed out al-Qaeda-linked militants had more than a passing whiff of George W. Bush’s “mission accomplished” landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln ten years ago. Hopefully, both France and the […]

Democratic Transitions France

Event Recap

Feb 1, 2013

Managing the crisis in Mali and the Sahel

By Africa Center

The Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center hosted a discussion on the escalating crisis in Mali and the threat it poses to the neighboring countries of Sahel. Moderated by J. Peter Pham, director of the Ansari Center, the panel featured Rudolph Atallah, senior fellow of the Ansari Center; Anouar Boukhars, nonresident senior fellow of […]

Conflict Crisis Management

Event Recap

Jan 30, 2013

Roundtable with Senior Representatives of the Government of Sudan

By Adrienne Chuck

The Michael S. Ansari Africa Center hosted a roundtable today with two senior representatives of the Government of the Republic of Sudan: Sayed El Khatib, lead negotiator of the Government of Sudan on general issues, advisor to the president on US Relations, and director of the Center for Strategic Studies in Khartoum, and Dirdeiry Mohamed […]

Sudan

New Atlanticist

Jan 28, 2013

Managing Mali

By J. Peter Pham

Strategically ill-conceived as it might been in a moment of panic and almost stillborn as a result of its bumpy start (thanks to diminished European military logistics capabilities), the French military intervention in Mali has nevertheless altered the dynamics in the fight against al-Qaeda’s regional affiliate. As the United States broadens the hitherto limited assistance […]

Sahel

New Atlanticist

Jan 16, 2013

Mali and Afghanistan: Uncanny Parallels

By Peter Pham

Analogies in international affairs are fraught with peril, but there is no denying the parallels between the situation in Afghanistan in the months and years leading up to 9/11 and recent developments in Mali.

Afghanistan Sahel

New Atlanticist

Jan 14, 2013

Mali: No way to go to a war going nowhere

By J. Peter Pham

French aircraft strafed Islamist rebels in Mali for the third day in a row on Sunday. Additional French troops arrived in the West African country’s capital to shore up its rickety transitional government in the face of an offensive by the militants who seized control of northern provinces last spring and have been imposing their […]

Conflict France

New Atlanticist

Dec 21, 2012

The Decisive African Youth Vote

By Adrienne Chuck

The Arab Spring underscored the pivotal role that youth can play in a country’s economic and political stability. This is even truer in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 70 percent of the population is under the age of 30.

Economy & Business Elections

New Atlanticist

Dec 18, 2012

Law of the Sea Tribunal Ruling Muddies the Waters Not Just for Ghana

By Peter Pham

Two months ago, Ghana  struck a blow for both the rule of law and fiscal probity when it detained the storied flagship of the Argentine navy as part of court-ordered relief for the Latin American country’s jilted creditors. Over the weekend a somnolent United Nations tribunal has waded into the controversy with a decision that not […]

Maritime Security Security & Defense

Event Recap

Dec 17, 2012

Ansari Africa Center Hosts Visit by Taiwanese Delegation

The Michael S. Ansari Africa Center hosted a visit today by a delegation of government officials from the Republic of China on Taiwan, who are in Washington to meet with their US counterparts for discussion on piracy off the coast of Somalia and its impact on Taiwanese commercial shipping and fishing interests in the Indian […]

Load More