Drones, The US and the New Wars in Africa
In: Journal of terrorism research: TR, Volume 5, Issue 3
ISSN: 2049-7040
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In: Journal of terrorism research: TR, Volume 5, Issue 3
ISSN: 2049-7040
Since the early 20th Century, Africa has witnessed varying degrees of subversion from the Mau Mau nationalist campaigners in Kenya in the 1950s to acts by rebel groups in the infamous intrastate wars of Sub-Saharan Africa. While the first movement evolved mainly from political acts geared towards the struggle for independence, the latter was mostly evident in attempts to obtain psychological or strategic advantages by combatants in the brutal civil wars of Liberia, Sierra Leone, the African Great Lakes region and a number of such civil war theatres in Africa. The element of unrestrained violence commonly identified as a defining feature of terrorism (Attuquayefio, 2006), was palpable in all these movements, yet the socio-political or military drive for these movements barely included religion. The 1990s, however, marked the dawn of religious fundamentalism and its induced terrorism in Africa. With an overwhelming proportion of these terrorist movements tracing their foundations to Islam, a religion that is ordinarily portrayed as one of peace ironically continues to roll out some of the worst acts of terrorism in Africa. This arguably came to the limelight with the August 7, 1998 terrorist bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam that killed over two hundred people. Subsequently in 2002, an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya was attacked. (Lyman & Morrison, 2004) The attribution of these events to the Egypt-based Islamic Jihad and other Al Qaeda surrogates such as its name sake in the Islamic Maghreb was the first public indication that international terrorist organisations were inducing affiliates on the continent. Subsequently, actions of Al-Shabaab in Somalia, the rise of Boko Haram in Northern Nigeria, the insurrection of Islamic Fundamentalists in Mali in March 2012 as well as the renewed interest in security on the continent by the US and key European countries such as the United Kingdom and France all point to Africa's emerging relevance as a frontier for the global War on Terrorism. ; Publisher PDF
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Among the evolving challenges to global peace and security are the growing incidents of terrorism in Africa. With cases in Nigeria, Mali, Algeria, Somalia and Libya among others, the continent is fast earning a moniker as a major frontier in the US-led Global War on Terrorism. A key counterterrorism measure in this regard has been the controversial reliance on Drones. This paper examines terrorism in Africa and the US' response in the context of drones. It argues that notwithstanding the politico-legal conundrums, drones are a useful complement to multidimensional strategies that can yield game-changing interventions in the fight against terrorism in Africa.
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In: African conflict & peacebuilding review: ACPR, Volume 4, Issue 2, p. 11
ISSN: 2156-7263
In: Ghana journal of development studies, Volume 9, Issue 1, p. 88
ISSN: 0855-6768
In: The African review: a journal of African politics, development and international affairs, p. 1-17
ISSN: 1821-889X
Abstract
Africa's stance on the Russian-Ukraine war has elicited censure from the West, resulting in diplomatic bruises at the multilateral level. Efforts by the NATO countries to utilise multilateral fora, such as the United Nations, to generate unanimous condemnation of Russia and the application of diplomatic pressure bilaterally have not yielded the expected outcome. We argue that without a clear strategy to support the mitigation of the fallouts of the conflict in African countries, the West's expectation of Africa's alignment with its interpretation of collective security is, at best idealistic. By mapping out the rationale for Africa's position as expressed by individual member states and the African Union, we argue that Africa's non-aligned position is not a deviation from the Charter principles but rather a pragmatic strategy for mitigating its vulnerabilities against the fallouts of the conflict.
In: The African review: a journal of African politics, development and international affairs, Volume 46, Issue 2, p. 292-308
ISSN: 1821-889X
Abstract
The discovery of oil in commercial quantities in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Niger has generated optimism of a better life for the people living within the respective countries. This notwithstanding, the narrative surrounding African countries such as Nigeria and Angola as examples of the resource curse syndrome is well documented. Consequently, the conversation on the prospects from the discovery of oil is often measured. Within this context, this article explores the relationship between oil, democracy and political stability in West Africa. While conceding that countries which discovered oil post-democracy will likely avoid the challenges of those that struck oil prior to democracy, it is argued that such prospects are merely conditional due to inherent challenges in the democracy project practised in respective countries in the sub-region. The article thus argues that the pathways to addressing the contested spaces lie in democratic institutions with enhanced institutional capacity.
In: Sur International Journal on Human Rights, Volume 9, Issue 17
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