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Begin New Search Topic Violent Extremism Political Geography Africa

21. Protecting Civilians in the Context of Violent Extremism: The Dilemmas of UN Peacekeeping in Mali

Author:
Namie Di Razza
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
In the non-permissive environments where they are often deployed, UN peace operations need to be increasingly creative to implement their mandate to protect civilians. They face particularly acute challenges in contexts marked by violent extremism, such as Mali, where attacks by terrorist groups have greatly constrained the capacity of peacekeepers to protect local populations. This paper explores the operational challenges that the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) faces in implementing its protection mandate. It analyzes protection threats related to violent extremism in Mali and explores the protection strategy, tools, and activities developed by the UN mission to address those threats. It highlights some of the practical constraints of operating in a hostile environment and added complications related to the mission’s proximity to non-UN counterterrorism forces. The Malian case demonstrates that each peacekeeping theater needs to be its own laboratory for POC and that approaches, tools, and mechanisms are not directly replicable from one UN mission to another. The report makes three recommendations to improve the delivery of MINUSMA’s protection mandate: Explore the full spectrum of military, police, and civilian tools; Ensure the independence of MINUSMA’s POC activities from counterterrorism agendas; and Design and articulate a political strategy that prioritizes POC.
Topic:
United Nations, Peacekeeping, Violent Extremism, and Civilians
Political Geography:
Africa and Mali

22. African Militant Islamist Groups Again on the Rise

Author:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Publication Date:
04-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
Violent events linked to militant Islamist groups in Africa rose by 38 percent over the past year. All major groups show an increase in activity.
Topic:
Violent Extremism, Al Qaeda, Militant Islam, Al Shabaab, and Boko Haram
Political Geography:
Africa, North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa

23. Militant Islamist Group Activity in the Sahel Rises

Author:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
Expansion of violent events linked to an array of militant Islamist groups in the Sahel highlights the growing scope of security challenges facing this region.
Topic:
Violent Extremism, Al Qaeda, Militant Islam, and Al Shabaab
Political Geography:
Africa, North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, and Sahel

24. The Art of the Deal, the AK-47 and the Arms Trade Treaty

Author:
Simon Adams
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Abstract:
When we think of the Holocaust our mind slips inexorably to dismal images of cattle cars stuffed with people, or to gas chambers, crematoria and the cruel irony of the “Arbeit Macht Frei” gate. But of the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust over a million were shot with rifles and other small arms. They were not killed in concentration camps, but were murdered in fields or forests and pitched into mass graves outside villages in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe. Before Auschwitz, Sobibor or Treblinka, the Holocaust began with bullets. The same is true of most mass atrocities carried out since 1945. From the killing fields of Cambodia to the burnt villages of Darfur, most of the killing was done with rifles and other small arms. It is for this reason that there is an enduring connection between preventing atrocities and confronting the international arms trade. The AK-47, or Kalashnikov, is the most popular weapon in the world today, with an estimated 70 million currently in existence. Numerous countries manufacture local variants of the ubiquitous assault rifle and while a new Chinese-made AK-47 might cost you $500, you can easily purchase one in many former conflict zones for as cheap as $50. When I lived in Johannesburg during the mid-1990s, leftover AK-47s from the civil war in Mozambique were still making their way through the townships and some entrepreneurial gangs were even renting out their AK-47s to other aspiring criminals at an hourly rate.
Topic:
Violent Extremism, Weapons, Arms Trade, and Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Middle East, United Nations, and Global Focus

25. ISIS’s Future in Africa after Iraq and Syria

Author:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Publication Date:
03-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
After losing territory in Iraq and Syria, ISIS has affirmed its intention to expand its operations into Africa. A review of militant group activity on the continent, however, suggests that ISIS will be challenged to do so.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Violent Extremism, ISIS, and Militant Islam
Political Geography:
Africa, Iraq, Middle East, North Africa, and Syria

26. Map of Africa’s Militant Islamist Groups

Author:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
A review of militant Islamist group activity in Africa over the past year reveals considerable variation and a geographic concentration.
Topic:
Violent Extremism, ISIS, Militant Islam, Al Shabaab, and Boko Haram
Political Geography:
Africa, Libya, Algeria, North Africa, and Tunisia

27. Setbacks and Realignments: The Continuing Evolution of Militant Islamist Groups in Africa

Author:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
A review of violent events involving militant Islamist groups in Africa over the past year reveals a mixed picture, with some groups showing increased activity and others diminished. This variance underscores the importance of local factors affecting each context.
Topic:
Violent Extremism, ISIS, Militant Islam, Al Shabaab, and Boko Haram
Political Geography:
Africa, Libya, and Nigeria

28. Al Shabaab Remains Virulent as ISIS Shifts to Egypt

Author:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
A quarterly update of a map tracking militant Islamic group activity in Africa as compiled by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. Al Shabaab has been involved in over half of all violent events related to militant Islamist groups in Africa in the first three quarters of 2017 (987 of 1,827 total).
Topic:
Violent Extremism, ISIS, Militant Islam, and Al Shabaab
Political Geography:
Africa, North Africa, West Africa, and East Africa

29. Islamic State’s Incursion into North Africa and Sahel: A Threat to al-Qaeda?

Author:
Manni Crone
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
The article examines Islamic State’s expansion into North Africa and Sahel and the subsequent rivalry between Islamic State and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb − the regional Al Qaeda group. Although IS managed to establish a province in Libya from 2014 through 2016, its presence in North Africa and Sahel (Libya, Sinai, Nigeria) is fragile. AQIM in contrast has a longstanding presence in the region, which appears to be much more consolidated. The rivalry between IS and AQ in this region has incited AQ splinter-groups to unite around AQIM, and in 2016 these groups stepped up their attacks on Western targets.
Topic:
Terrorism, Violent Extremism, Al Qaeda, and Islamic State
Political Geography:
North Africa, Sahel, and Africa

30. Map of Africa’s Active Militant Islamist Groups

Author:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Publication Date:
11-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
A review of militant Islamist group activity in Africa over the past year reveals considerable variation and a geographic concentration.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Violent Extremism, ISIS, and Militant Islam
Political Geography:
Africa, North Africa, West Africa, and East Africa