Search

• [Page] Dynamics of Jihadist Sieges in Mali

  • Jihadist sieges have become a defining feature of conflict in the Central Sahel fuelling displacement and humanitarian crisisThisproject examines how sieges are launched enforced and lifted analysingthepolitical and social dynamicsthat shapethem astools of economic warfare to underminestate poweras expressions ofjihadist governance and sites of civilian agencyJihadist insurgenciesnotably siegeshave risennotablyin the Central Sahelandtriggering humanitarian and displacement crisesJamaatNusrat al...

• [Publication] The Spread of Jihadism in the Sahel. Part 1

  Zeitschrift für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik

  • Following the occupation of northern Mali by jihadist groups in 2012, the national and international military response failed to counter their influence. Having spread to neighbouring countries of Burkina Faso and Niger, jihadism is now on the doorstep of some countries in the Gulf of Guinea, such as Togo and Benin. This article analyses in three parts the main factors that have been exploited (instrumentalised) by these jihadists groups in the Sahel, a strategy that they could...

• [Publication] The Spread of Jihadism in the Sahel. Part 2

  Zeitschrift für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik

  • Following the occupation of northern Mali by jihadist groups in 2012, the national and international military response failed to counter their influence. Having spread to neighbouring countries of Burkina Faso and Niger, jihadism is now on the doorstep of some countries in the Gulf of Guinea, such as Togo and Benin. This article analyses in three parts the main factors that have been exploited (instrumentalised) by these jihadist groups in the Sahel, a strategy that they could ...

• [Publication] The Spread of Jihadism in the Sahel. Part 3

  Zeitschrift für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik

  • Following the occupation of northern Mali by jihadist groups in 2012, the national and international military response failed to counter their influence. Having spread to neighbouring countries of Burkina Faso and Niger, jihadism is now on the doorstep of some countries in the Gulf of Guinea, such as Togo and Benin. This article analyses in three parts the main factors that have been exploited (instrumentalised) by these jihadist groups in the Sahel, a strategy that they could repli...

• [Project] Small Arms Control in Africa

  • This project continues the work undertaken in previous projects:  Capacity development and advice on SALW control in Africa (August 2018 - March 2021)  Physical security and stockpile management (PSSM), capacity development and technical advice in West Africa (January 2016 - July 2018) Physical security and stockpile management (PSSM), capacity development and technical advice in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa (January 2016 - July 2018)  Our work is based on a multi-level approa...

• [Publication] Today’s solution, tomorrow’s problem? An analysis of West African practices in the use of pro-government militias.

  • In this Paper, I address the question of whether and under what circumstances the deployment of pro-government militias (PGMs) can reduce violence against civilians, specifically in the Sahel. My analysis— based on a literature review and case studies on Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria—suggests that rather than representing a solution, PGMs tend to become part of the problem. In most cases, PGMs actively carry out acts of violence against civilians or passively cont...

• [Publication] Popular Support:The Only Basis of Legitimacy for West Africa's New Military Regimes?

  Africa Today

  • The type of relationship that can be seen among the AES countries could be based on three aspects. First, the failure of ECOWAS to manage the Malian case after the first coup, on August 18, 2020, leading to a second coup, on May 24, 2021, could appear to have created conditions favorable to coups, first in Burkina Faso and then in Niger. Second, Mali has served as an example, a source of inspiration for the other two countries—particularly in terms of capturing popular support—that ...

• [Event] Vereinigung für Afrikawissenschaften in Deutschland (VAD) 2024 Conference

  • Reconfigurations in Africa - and in African Studies
  • Monday, 30 September 2024: The conference theme is Reconfigurations in Africa - and in African Studies, addressing current and past crises and processes of transformation on the African continent, as well as the need to critically reflect on the means — academic, artistic and otherwise – by which we approach them globally to expand knowledge production. To this point VAD2024 aims to bring Africa-related institutions outside of Africa, including museums, universities and associations, into conversation with parallel instit...

• [Publication] Natural resources in Côte d’Ivoire: Fostering crisis or peace? The cocoa, diamond, gold and oil sectors

  • The trade and exploitation of natural resources such as cocoa, gold, petroleum and diamonds contributed to the conflict in Côte d’Ivoire and still obstruct the peace process in the country. This is one of the conclusions of BICC brief 40, entitled: “Natural Resources in Côte d’Ivoire: Fostering Crisis or Peace? The Cocoa, Diamond, Gold and Oil sectors”. The authors of the BICC brief, Lena Guesnet, Marie Müller and Jolien Schure analyze to what extent the extraction of natural resources has fuele...

• [Project] Physical Security and Stockpile Management (PSSM) Capacity Development and Technical Advice in West Africa

  • With this project, BICC continues capacity development activities on PSSM in two focus countries of the enhancement initiative of the German federal government (Ertüchtigungsinitiative der Bundesregierung): Nigeria and Mali. It complements the PSSM Capacity Building and Advisory project, which is currently undertaken by BICC with the African Union and the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA). BICC has supported PSSM capacity development activities in the ECOWAS region since 2014 when a PSSM ass...