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Begin New Search Political Geography Sahara Publication Year within 5 Years

1. A Tale of Two Jihads: Unraveling the Atrocities of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) in the Sahel

Author:
Frederick Appiah Afriyie
Publication Date:
06-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:
Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:
The Sahel area of West Africa has become the latest battleground for Al-Qaeda affiliated Jama`at Nusrat Al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Islamic State affiliated Islamic State in the Greater Sahel (ISGS). This piece as far as possible identifies the heightened atrocities perpetuated by both groups in the Sahel region. With little or no doubt, the strategies and ascendancy in atrocities orchestrated by the JNIM and ISGS could be largely hypothesized to have negative implications for Africa’s Sahel region (Chad, Mali, Niger and Mauritania). As a matter of concern, the paper confirms the said hypothesis and finds that the activities of the two Jihad-descent groups poses adverse security, social and political ramifications for the Sahel region and even beyond. With the theory of deprivation as the undergirding framework, the work explores how lack of basic needs and legitimate entitlements of citizens have catalyzed the dominance of JNIM and ISGS in the Sahel. Aside discussing the formation, trends of events, atrocities and strategies of JNIM and ISGS, the paper advances for a swift, action-oriented and collective efforts of governments within the Sahel region. In order to restore Sahel’s stability, increased security collaboration and strengthening the tenets of good governance are some worthwhile recommendations postulated.
Topic:
Security, Non State Actors, Violent Extremism, Islamic State, Jihad, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM)
Political Geography:
Africa, Sahel, and Sahara

2. NIGAL: Algeria, Niger, & Nigeria revive talks on Saharan Gas Pipeline

Author:
FARAS
Publication Date:
07-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Future for Advanced Research and Studies (FARAS)
Abstract:
Algeria, Niger, and Nigeria held talks on June 20 and 21, 2022 in the Nigerian capital Abuja on the revival of a decades-old project to pipe gas across the Sahara, a potential opportunity for Europe to diversify its gas sources, media reported. Alegria’s Minister of Energy and Mines Mohamed Arkab said the meeting was “important and successful”, setting the “first building block” for a project that’s been just an idea for over 15 years. It was agreed to continue consultations through the technical team that was formed in Abuja and tasking it to prepare the necessary feasibility studies for the project. It was also agreed that the three ministers should meet again no later than the end of July in Algeria.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Gas, Economy, and Pipeline
Political Geography:
Africa, Algeria, Nigeria, Niger, and Sahara

3. The Post-COVID-19 Trajectory for Algeria, Morocco and the Western Sahara

Author:
Michaël Tanchum
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
As Algeria and Morocco enter 2021, the bilateral relationship stands at a crossroads in which the status quo is no longer tenable. The COVID-19 pandemic and Morocco’s spate of diplomatic successes during 2020, culminating with the US’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara in December, have altered the long-standing, geopolitical dynamics of the Western Maghreb. Algeria now faces the critical decision of whether and how to attempt to offset Morocco’s rising power. The enduring détente between Algeria and Morocco had been characterised by limited coordination against shared threats such as terrorism and a contained competition in the Western Sahara. Since 1991, the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, which seeks to establish an independent Sahrawi state in the Western Sahara, abandoned its armed struggle in favour of working through the framework of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Diplomacy, Politics, Bilateral Relations, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Algeria, Morocco, and Sahara

4. Relaunching Negotiations over Western Sahara

Author:
International Crisis Group
Publication Date:
10-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The fighting in Western Sahara, which broke out again in November 2020, remains of low intensity. Yet outside powers would be wrong to assume that it will not escalate. With U.S. support, the new UN envoy should pursue confidence-building measures that could facilitate negotiations.
Topic:
International Cooperation, United Nations, Military Strategy, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Africa and Sahara

5. Addressing the Challenges of Urbanization in Africa

Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA)
Abstract:
Africa is the world’s least urbanized continent, and yet the rate at which its cities are expanding is growing faster than no other worldwide – at an average of 3.5 percent per year. This growth of urbanization does, however, vary across the continent, ranging from the already heavily urbanized North Africa (47.8 percent) to the least urbanized Sub-Saharan Africa (32.8 percent).The aggregate rate of urbanization on the continent is projected to grow from 40 percent in 2015 to 56 percent in 2050. The enormous speed at which Africa’s cities are growing is linked to other key development trends, most prominently accelerating economic and population growth, increasing migration from rural to urban areas, and the youth bulge. It is strongly driven by Africans’ perceptions that cities – in contrast to the continent’s rural areas – offer an abundance of livelihood opportunities, including employment and income-generating opportunities, food security, and access to finance, education and social capital as well as social protection.
Topic:
Urbanization, Economic Growth, Urban, Population Growth, and Cities
Political Geography:
Africa, North Africa, and Sahara

6. Building Blocks and Challenges for the Implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees in Africa

Author:
Sergio Carciotto and Filppio Ferraro
Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal on Migration and Human Security
Institution:
Center for Migration Studies of New York
Abstract:
Forced displacement continues to be a major challenge to human security across the globe. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the global population of forcibly displaced people increased by 2.3 million people in 2018, and by the end of the year, more than 70 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide (UNHCR 2019a). UNHCR also estimated that, in 2018, 13.6 million people were newly displaced as a result of conflicts and droughts (ibid.). Building on the predicament of global sustainability and the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) is a framework based on four strategic objectives: to (1) ease pressures on host countries, (2) enhance refugee self-reliance, (3) expand access to third-country solutions, and (4) support conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity (UNHCR 2018; UN General Assembly 2019). The GCR urges the international community to respond comprehensively and innovatively to the plight of refugees, and to make a paradigm shift in global humanitarian aid to emphasize refugee self-reliance and livelihoods. One of the risks of such a nonbinding and thin agreement, however, is that the GCR will give rise to a bureaucratic process that “does not come even close to dependably addressing the operational deficits of the refugee regime” (Hathaway 2019, 594). This article looks closely at the prospects for the GCR in sub-Saharan Africa based on the need to shift from a humanitarian system of “care and maintenance” to comprehensive and effective development responses to refugee crises. It also discusses some of these experiences and best practices to promote a resilience-based development approach. It recognizes that development initiatives implemented or still to be implemented under the normative framework of the GCR and the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) are subject to a multiyear planning and implementation cycle. Therefore, this article does not intend to evaluate their efficacy or measure progress under the GCR, but rather to identify key challenges and to highlight achievements and promising initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa. It particularly focuses on implementation and rollout of the CRRF in Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Uganda, and Zambia in Africa.
Topic:
United Nations, Refugees, Displacement, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Uganda, Kenya, Africa, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia, Zambia, Chad, Sahara, and Sub-Saharan Africa