March 14th, 2018
BOB Building Room 500
1717 Massachusetts Ave NW
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM

Islamist insurgencies are challenging the capacity of post-colonial states to govern citizens in the Sahel and the contiguous states of Northeast Africa. While insurrections always emerge from local conditions, often articulating grievances with appeal to youthful recruits, it is also true that Islamist insurrections share and contest Shari’a-minded discourses and may re-imagine the boundaries of Islamdom. Despite evidence for shared beliefs and common training, actual operational linkages are rare and highly contested by analysts. In response, Sahelian governments are negotiating deeper alliances with Western states and implementing a variety of “hard” and “soft” counter-insurgency “packages”. Realistically, since the vast and diverse Sahel defies a purely military solution, counter-insurgency strategies typically turn to overcoming deficits in accountable governance, human security, and livelihoods. Recently, rising sympathy for authoritarian solutions by some Western states has diluted the long-standing, bipartisan, consensus advocating democratization in Africa. Accordingly, in the face of these thorny challenges, presentations will focus on comparing and contrasting the origins and nature of Islamist insurgencies; assessing trans-regional and/or global ties; and evaluating the likely effectiveness of “hard” and “soft” policies of counter-insurgency for advancing security, good governance, and democracy for the Sahelian people.

Presentations and Participants:

 

Panel 1: Islamist Insurgencies in the Francophone States of the Sahel

Ibrahim Y. Ibrahim, “The Jihadist Challenge in Mali and Niger: Global ideology and Local Context”
Daniel Eizenga, “Islamism in Chad and Burkina Faso: Identifying the Fault Lines Between Political Debate and Insurgency”
Rida Lyammouri, “Understanding the Evolution of Islamist Insurgents from the Northern Sahel: A Challenge to Counter-Insurgency and Governance”

Panel 2: Northern Nigeria: Islamist Insurgency in a Shari’a Minded Polity

Paul Lubeck, “Over-Determination: The Intellectual, Social, and Structural Origins of Boko Haram”
Matthew Page, “Monetizing Misery: State Capture of Insurgency and Humanitarian Crisis in Northeastern Nigeria”
Y.Z. Ya’u, “Update on the Insurgency in the Northeast States: Evaluating Community Resilience”

Panel 3: The Eastern Sahel: Somalia and Kenya

David Throup, “How to Avoid the Perfect Storm: Political Discontent in Islamic Kenya”
Roland Marchal, “ Always Announced, Always delayed: What Could the End of al-Shabab Mean for Somalia?”

Panel 4: Human Security and Counter-Insurgency Policies in the Sahel

Alice Hunt Friend, “Needs vs. Interests: An Examination of U.S. Security Assistance and Governance Gaps in the Sahel”
Roland Marchal, “What Does President Macron’s Overhaul of French Security Policy Portend for Africa?”
Will Reno, “Security Assistance to Fragile and Failed States in Africa: Charades and Realities”
Kamissa Camara, “Mali’s Security Sector Reform, the G5 and the Sahel: Key Challenges and Opportunities”
Ena Dion, “Building Trust for Security in West Africa”

Roundtable Discussion: Prospects for Democratic Governance in the Sahel

Peter Lewis (Chair), Olufemi Vaughan, Kamissa Camara, Leonardo Villalón