Sahel Watch

On Wednesday, March 27, the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted H.E. Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga, prime minister, and H.E. Kamissa Camara, minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, of the Republic of Mali, for a discussion on the security situation in Mali and the Sahel region. Maïga presented his country’s efforts to improve security at both […]

This article appeared originally in French in the current print edition of the magazine Pouvoirs d’Afrique. This past summer, one could not help but wonder as the leaders of Europe and Africa, in separate meetings, seemed to talk past one another as they sought to deal with what has become one of the most significant—if […]

In December, when US National Security Advisor John Bolton previewed the Trump Administration’s security strategy for Africa, he focused more on the rising financial and political influence of China and Russia than on US plans to fight the “proliferation of Radical Islamic Terrorism” across Africa.

Africa’s story is increasingly one of economic dynamism that is driven, in part, by political reform and improvements in governance. But, there are also very real security, humanitarian, and developmental challenges that remain to be confronted. The United States has a stake in helping to tackle these challenges, not least because it is in its own national interest to do so.

African nations have rarely been perceived as essential partners in the pursuit of US national security and economic interests, but a re-assessment of Africa’s strategic importance is past due. Transnational threats emanating from the continent continue to evolve, and trade and investment relationships have deepened. A better and broader understanding of the threats and opportunities […]