Programs

The Atlantic Council’s Africa Center promotes dynamic geopolitical partnerships with African states and helps redirect US and European policy priorities toward strengthening security and bolstering economic growth and prosperity on the continent.

Content

External

Jul 31, 2013

IntelBrief: Rising Sinophobia in Africa

By Adrienne Chuck

In the latest in the series of “IntelBriefs” on African security issues being produced by the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center in partnership with the Soufan Group, an international strategic consultancy, Africa Center Assistant Director Adrienne Chuck argues that heightened public scrutiny of Chinese business activities by local communities has pushed African leaders to hold Chinese […]

Africa China

New Atlanticist

Jul 25, 2013

Mali’s Election: Good enough, but not sufficient

By J. Peter Pham

Nearly a year and a half after a coup brought down its elected government, inadvertently paving the way for the takeover of the northern two-thirds of the country by ethnic separatists temporarily aligned with al-Qaeda’s regional affiliate and other extremists, and seven months after a French-led military intervention turned back the insurgents, scattering the militants […]

Elections Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Jul 24, 2013

China’s Soft Power Deficit in Africa

By Adrienne Chuck

President Barack Obama’s second trip to Sub-Saharan Africa last month was accompanied by criticism and talk of the diminishing American presence and influence on the continent. The media described his trip to Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania as an effort to “catch up” to or “counter” the influence that China has made in Africa in […]

Africa China

External

Jul 17, 2013

IntelBrief: Urbanization and Unrest in Africa

By Sam Fishman

In the latest in the series of “IntelBriefs” on African security issues being produced by the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center in partnership with the Soufan Group, an international strategic consultancy, Africa Center Program Assistant Sam Fishman argues that in many African cities, the imbalance created by fast population growth and slow economic development has created […]

Africa

New Atlanticist

Jul 12, 2013

The Enormity of Mandela’s Struggle

By Rajan Menon

Nelson Mandela is now waging what mere mortals would see as life’s greatest battle: the one to stay alive. But Mandela, a larger-than-life figure, would probably not see it that way; for him the battle was always about something that transcended his person.

Politics & Diplomacy South Africa

New Atlanticist

Jul 11, 2013

How France ‘Set the Standard’ for Crisis Intervention

By Julian Lindley-French

A very senior British general said of Operation Serval in Mali that France had “set the standard” for crisis military interventions. Praise indeed and not easily given. One can always tell when a crisis is being managed to effect as the press lose interest.

France Sahel

New Atlanticist

Jun 25, 2013

Obama in Africa: Take Two

By Sam Fishman

Africa is occupying a larger space on the world stage. Security threats posed by new Islamic extremist groupings, the continent’s rapid GDP growth, and a bullish China blowing past the US in bilateral trade suggest that the continent will rise higher on the presidential agenda.  Presidents Bush and Clinton took a special interest in Africa, […]

East Africa

New Atlanticist

May 28, 2013

Crisis in the Sahel: Trafficking

By Rudolph Atallah

Organized crime—especially various forms of smuggling and narco-trafficking—is the lifeblood of the vast under-governed expanse of the Sahara. It is within this largely decentralized and politically corrupt milieu that terrorists and criminals work together to access weapons and money to sustain their symbiotic operations.

Africa South & Central Africa

New Atlanticist

May 24, 2013

Crisis in the Sahel: Transnational Terrorism

By Rudolph Atallah

While some suggest the threats in the Sahara and Sahel are local or regional in scope, their impact is global. Even a cursory overview of the involvement of North Africans as itinerate jihadists linked to al-Qaeda demonstrates this. 

Africa

New Atlanticist

May 23, 2013

Crisis in the Sahel: Mali Terrorism Threat Growing

By Rudolph Atallah

Over the past year, things have escalated dramatically in Mali, causing further instability in the Sahara and the Sahel. Many skeptics underestimated the Islamist threat and claimed that the Saharan branch of Al-Qaeda in the Magreb (AQIM) was only focused on kidnappings for ransom and illicit trade, rather than jihadist activities.

National Security Sahel

Experts