If Our Men Won't Fight, We Will"
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The Conflict's Complexity in Northern Mali Calls for Tailored Solutions
Policy Note 1, 2015 By Ole Martin Gaasholt Who needs to reconcile with whom? The Conflict’s Complexity in Northern Mali Calls for Tailored Solutions PHOTO: MARC DEVILLE/GETTY IMAGES While negotiations are taking place in Algiers, some observers insist on the need for reconciliation between Northern Mali and the rest of the country and particularly between Tuareg and other Malians. But the Tuareg are a minority in Northern Mali and most of them did not support the rebels. So who needs to be reconciled with whom? And what economic solutions will counteract conflict? This Policy Note argues that not only exclusion underlies the conflict, but also a lack of economic opportunities. The important Tuareg component in most rebellions in Mali does not mean that all Tuareg participate or even support the rebellions. ll the rebellions in Northern Mali the peoples of Northern Mali, which they The Songhay opposed Tuareg and Arab have been initiated by Tuareg, typi- called Azawad, and not just of the Tuareg. rebels in the 1990s, whereas many of them cally from the Kidal region, whe- There has thus been a sequence of joined Islamists controlling Northern Mali in reA the first geographically circumscribed rebellions in Mali in which the Tuareg 2012. Very few Songhay, or even Arabs, joined rebellion broke out a few years after inde- component has been important. In the Mouvement National pour la Libération pendence in 1960. Tuareg from elsewhere addition, there have been complex de l’Azawad (MNLA), despite the claim that in Northern Mali have participated in later connections between the various conflicts, Azawad was a multiethnic territory. -
Al-Qaeda's Keys to Success
DIGITAL-ONLY VIEW Al- Qaeda’s Keys to Success MAJ RYAN CK HESS, USAF ver the past 20 years, al- Qaeda has been the most recognizable and infa- mous terrorist organization on the planet. The group has planned and executed thousands of violent attacks, spurred dozens of offshoot affiliate Oand copycat groups, and even created rival Islamic extremist organizations. De- spite all this, and subsequently spending the past 20 years at war with the world’s most effective militaries, the group continues to carry out its operations. More- over, the success of foreign al- Qaeda affiliates illustrate that the group has become a global threat. Analyzing the tools that the organization has used to succeed will give us a better understanding of how to combat al-Qaeda. Perhaps more impor- tantly, it will also help intelligence agencies recognize what strategies the group will likely employ in the future. There are some who argue that al- Qaeda is dying. In this article, I argue that not only is it far from dead, but that the main factors contributing to al- Qaeda’s continued global success are decentralization, effective narratives and propaganda, and the specific targeting of locations with a preexist- ing history of instability and violence. This article will use three al-Qaeda affiliates and allies—al-Shabaab, Ansar al- Dine (AAD), and al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) — to demon- strate each of the above listed success factors. However, before we can discuss how al- Qaeda has achieved their success, we must first define success. If success is to be defined as the completion of each organization’s stated goals, none of them have yet succeeded. -
Final Technical Report| April 2017
FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT| APRIL 2017 Final technical report International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Strengthening West African Research Capacity on Security - Project 106743 (March 2012 – Feb. 2017) ISS-Pretoria (head Office) ISS-Dakar 361 Veale Street Regional Office for West Africa Block C, Brooklyn Court Immeuble Atryum Center, 4th floor New Muckleneuk Route de Ouakam, Pretoria, South Africa Dakar, Senegal Research team Programme managers Déo Barakamfitiye, Stéphanie Wolters, Lori-Anne Théroux-Bénoni Senior researchers Lori-Anne Théroux-Bénoni, William Assanvo, Barthelemy Blédé, David Zounmenou, Stéphanie Wolters Researchers Paulin Maurice Toupane and Ibrahim Maïga Junior researcher Ella Abatan Junior fellows 2012: Awa Faye Daou, Paulin Maurice Toupane, Lucie Boucher 2013: Lidawo Kilo, Baba Dakono, Bile Ehoussoua Marie Emmanuela Kabran, Sohe Loïc Elyse Gino Vlavonou, Mahamoudou Kane 2014: Esso- Wedeou Gnamké, Fatimata Ouédraogo, Tity Agbahey, Ibrahim Maïga, Ousmane Aly Diallo 2015: Jeannine Ella Abatan, Cheikh Dieng, Pascaline Compaoré, Jeanine Kobi Bié 2016: Aissatou Kanté, Kadiatou Yacouba Keita, Fatimata Ba, Wendyam Aristide Sawadogo, Patrick Olivier Gnonsekan Country/Region Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Dakar (Senegal), Nairobi (Kenya), Pretoria (South Africa) Contact information Lori-Anne Théroux-Bénoni [email protected], [email protected] CONTENTS 1. Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 4 2. The research problem -
The Question of 'Race' in the Pre-Colonial Southern Sahara
The Question of ‘Race’ in the Pre-colonial Southern Sahara BRUCE S. HALL One of the principle issues that divide people in the southern margins of the Sahara Desert is the issue of ‘race.’ Each of the countries that share this region, from Mauritania to Sudan, has experienced civil violence with racial overtones since achieving independence from colonial rule in the 1950s and 1960s. Today’s crisis in Western Sudan is only the latest example. However, very little academic attention has been paid to the issue of ‘race’ in the region, in large part because southern Saharan racial discourses do not correspond directly to the idea of ‘race’ in the West. For the outsider, local racial distinctions are often difficult to discern because somatic difference is not the only, and certainly not the most important, basis for racial identities. In this article, I focus on the development of pre-colonial ideas about ‘race’ in the Hodh, Azawad, and Niger Bend, which today are in Northern Mali and Western Mauritania. The article examines the evolving relationship between North and West Africans along this Sahelian borderland using the writings of Arab travellers, local chroniclers, as well as several specific documents that address the issue of the legitimacy of enslavement of different West African groups. Using primarily the Arabic writings of the Kunta, a politically ascendant Arab group in the area, the paper explores the extent to which discourses of ‘race’ served growing nomadic power. My argument is that during the nineteenth century, honorable lineages and genealogies came to play an increasingly important role as ideological buttresses to struggles for power amongst nomadic groups and in legitimising domination over sedentary communities. -
Report of the Secretary-General on the Situation in Mali
United Nations S/2016/1137 Security Council Distr.: General 30 December 2016 Original: English Report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Mali I. Introduction 1. By its resolution 2295 (2016), the Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) until 30 June 2017 and requested me to report on a quarterly basis on its implementation, focusing on progress in the implementation of the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali and the efforts of MINUSMA to support it. II. Major political developments A. Implementation of the peace agreement 2. On 23 September, on the margins of the general debate of the seventy-first session of the General Assembly, I chaired, together with the President of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, a ministerial meeting aimed at mitigating the tensions that had arisen among the parties to the peace agreement between July and September, giving fresh impetus to the peace process and soliciting enhanced international support. Following the opening session, the event was co-chaired by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and African Integration of Mali, Abdoulaye Diop, and the Minister of State, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Algeria, Ramtane Lamamra, together with the Under - Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. In the Co-Chairs’ summary of the meeting, the parties were urged to fully and sincerely maintain their commitments under the agreement and encouraged to take specific steps to swiftly implement the agreement. Those efforts notwithstanding, progress in the implementation of the agreement remained slow. Amid renewed fighting between the Coordination des mouvements de l’Azawad (CMA) and the Platform coalition of armed groups, key provisions of the agreement, including the establishment of interim authorities and the launch of mixed patrols, were not put in place. -
Going Global: Islamist Competition in Contemporary Civil Wars
Security Studies,25:353–384,2016 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0963-6412 print / 1556-1852 online DOI: 10.1080/09636412.2016.1171971 Going Global: Islamist Competition in Contemporary Civil Wars AISHA AHMAD The global landscape of modern jihad is highly diverse and wrought with conflict between rival Islamist factions. Within this inter- Islamist competition, some factions prove to be more robust and durable than others. This research proposes that the adoption of a global identity allows an Islamist group to better recruit and expand their domestic political power across ethnic and tribal divisions without being constrained by local politics. Islamists that rely on an ethnic or tribal identity are more prone to group fragmentation, whereas global Islamists are better able to retain group cohesion by purging their ranks of dissenters. To examine these two processes, I present original field research and primary source analysis to ex- amine Islamist in-fighting in Somalia from 2006–2014 and then expand my analysis to Iraq and Syria, Pakistan, and Mali. GOING GLOBAL: ISLAMIST COMPETITION IN CONTEMPORARY CIVIL WARS The global landscape of modern jihad is highly diverse and wrought with internal competition.1 In Pakistan, factions within the Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) movement have repeatedly clashed over the past decade, splintering into Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 07:31 05 July 2016 multiple powerful jihadist groups. In northern Mali, the ethnic Tuareg re- bellion has also fractured, leading some Islamist factions to build strong ties to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).2 More recently, the Aisha Ahmad is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. -
Boko Haram Beyond the Headlines: Analyses of Africa’S Enduring Insurgency
Boko Haram Beyond the Headlines: Analyses of Africa’s Enduring Insurgency Editor: Jacob Zenn Boko Haram Beyond the Headlines: Analyses of Africa’s Enduring Insurgency Jacob Zenn (Editor) Abdulbasit Kassim Elizabeth Pearson Atta Barkindo Idayat Hassan Zacharias Pieri Omar Mahmoud Combating Terrorism Center at West Point United States Military Academy www.ctc.usma.edu The views expressed in this report are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of the Combating Terrorism Center, United States Military Academy, Department of Defense, or U.S. Government. May 2018 Cover Photo: A group of Boko Haram fighters line up in this still taken from a propaganda video dated March 31, 2016. COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Director The editor thanks colleagues at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC), all of whom supported this endeavor by proposing the idea to carry out a LTC Bryan Price, Ph.D. report on Boko Haram and working with the editor and contributors to see the Deputy Director project to its rightful end. In this regard, I thank especially Brian Dodwell, Dan- iel Milton, Jason Warner, Kristina Hummel, and Larisa Baste, who all directly Brian Dodwell collaborated on the report. I also thank the two peer reviewers, Brandon Kend- hammer and Matthew Page, for their input and valuable feedback without which Research Director we could not have completed this project up to such a high standard. There were Dr. Daniel Milton numerous other leaders and experts at the CTC who assisted with this project behind-the-scenes, and I thank them, too. Distinguished Chair Most importantly, we would like to dedicate this volume to all those whose lives LTG (Ret) Dell Dailey have been afected by conflict and to those who have devoted their lives to seeking Class of 1987 Senior Fellow peace and justice. -
Representing the Algerian Civil War: Literature, History, and the State
Representing the Algerian Civil War: Literature, History, and the State By Neil Grant Landers A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in French in the GRADUATE DIVISION of the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Committee in charge: Professor Debarati Sanyal, Co-Chair Professor Soraya Tlatli, Co-Chair Professor Karl Britto Professor Stefania Pandolfo Fall 2013 1 Abstract of the Dissertation Representing the Algerian Civil War: Literature, History, and the State by Neil Grant Landers Doctor of Philosophy in French Literature University of California, Berkeley Professor Debarati Sanyal, Co-Chair Professor Soraya Tlatli, Co-Chair Representing the Algerian Civil War: Literature, History, and the State addresses the way the Algerian civil war has been portrayed in 1990s novelistic literature. In the words of one literary critic, "The Algerian war has been, in a sense, one big murder mystery."1 This may be true, but literary accounts portray the "mystery" of the civil war—and propose to solve it—in sharply divergent ways. The primary aim of this study is to examine how three of the most celebrated 1990s novels depict—organize, analyze, interpret, and "solve"—the civil war. I analyze and interpret these novels—by Assia Djebar, Yasmina Khadra, and Boualem Sansal—through a deep contextualization, both in terms of Algerian history and in the novels' contemporary setting. This is particularly important in this case, since the civil war is so contested, and is poorly understood. Using the novels' thematic content as a cue for deeper understanding, I engage through them and with them a number of elements crucial to understanding the civil war: Algeria's troubled nationalist legacy; its stagnant one-party regime; a fear, distrust, and poor understanding of the Islamist movement and the insurgency that erupted in 1992; and the unending, horrifically bloody violence that piled on throughout the 1990s. -
Othering Terrorism: a Rhetorical Strategy of Strategic Labeling
Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal Volume 13 Issue 2 Rethinking Genocide, Mass Atrocities, and Political Violence in Africa: New Directions, Article 9 New Inquiries, and Global Perspectives 6-2019 Othering Terrorism: A Rhetorical Strategy of Strategic Labeling Michael Loadenthal Miami University of Oxford Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/gsp Recommended Citation Loadenthal, Michael (2019) "Othering Terrorism: A Rhetorical Strategy of Strategic Labeling," Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal: Vol. 13: Iss. 2: 74-105. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5038/1911-9933.13.2.1704 Available at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/gsp/vol13/iss2/9 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Open Access Journals at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal by an authorized editor of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Othering Terrorism: A Rhetorical Strategy of Strategic Labeling Michael Loadenthal Miami University of Oxford Oxford, Ohio, USA Reel Bad Africans1 & the Cinema of Terrorism Throughout Ridley Scott’s 2002 film Black Hawk Down, Orientalist “othering” abounds, mirroring the simplistic political narrative of the film at large. In this tired script, we (the West) are fighting to help them (the East Africans) escape the grip of warlordism, tribalism, and failed states through the deployment of brute counterinsurgency and policing strategies. In the film, the US soldiers enter the hostile zone of Mogadishu, Somalia, while attempting to arrest the very militia leaders thought to be benefitting from the disorder of armed conflict. -
A Multivocal Analysis of the 2012 Political Crisis in the Divided
One hippopotamus and eight blind analysts: a multivocal analysis of the 2012 political crisis in the divided Republic of Mali Baz Lecocq, Gregory Mann, Bruce Whitehouse, Dida Badi, Lotte Pelckmans, Nadia Belalimat, Bruce Hall, Wolfram Lacher To cite this version: Baz Lecocq, Gregory Mann, Bruce Whitehouse, Dida Badi, Lotte Pelckmans, et al.. One hippopota- mus and eight blind analysts: a multivocal analysis of the 2012 political crisis in the divided Republic of Mali. Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), 2013, 40, pp.343 - 357. 10.1080/03056244.2013.799063. halshs-01395536 HAL Id: halshs-01395536 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01395536 Submitted on 10 Nov 2016 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. One Hippopotamus and Eight Blind Analysts: A multivocal analysis of the 2012 political crisis in the divided Republic of Mali Extended Editors Cut* Baz Lecocq, Gregory Mann, Bruce Whitehouse, Dida Badi, Lotte Pelckmans, Nadia Belalimat, Bruce Hall, Wolfram Lacher∗ I. Introduction In 2012, the political landscape in the Republic of Mali transformed rapidly, drastically, and unpredictably. The formation of a new Tuareg political movement—the National Movement of Azawad—in October 2010 and the return to Mali of Tuareg with military experience from the Libyan conflict in August 2011—bringing along heavy weapons and logistical supplies— made speculation on renewed violence on the part of separatist Tuareg inevitable. -
Africa Yearbook
AFRICA YEARBOOK AFRICA YEARBOOK Volume 10 Politics, Economy and Society South of the Sahara in 2013 EDITED BY ANDREAS MEHLER HENNING MELBER KLAAS VAN WALRAVEN SUB-EDITOR ROLF HOFMEIER LEIDEN • BOSTON 2014 ISSN 1871-2525 ISBN 978-90-04-27477-8 (paperback) ISBN 978-90-04-28264-3 (e-book) Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Global Oriental and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Contents i. Preface ........................................................................................................... vii ii. List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................... ix iii. Factual Overview ........................................................................................... xiii iv. List of Authors ............................................................................................... xvii I. Sub-Saharan Africa (Andreas Mehler, -
Cloth, Commerce and History in Western Africa 1700-1850
The Texture of Change: Cloth, Commerce and History in Western Africa 1700-1850 The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Benjamin, Jody A. 2016. The Texture of Change: Cloth, Commerce and History in Western Africa 1700-1850. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:33493374 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA The Texture of Change: Cloth Commerce and History in West Africa, 1700-1850 A dissertation presented by Jody A. Benjamin to The Department of African and African American Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of African and African American Studies Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts May 2016 © 2016 Jody A. Benjamin All rights reserved. Dissertation Adviser: Professor Emmanuel Akyeampong Jody A. Benjamin The Texture of Change: Cloth Commerce and History in West Africa, 1700-1850 Abstract This study re-examines historical change in western Africa during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries through the lens of cotton textiles; that is by focusing on the production, exchange and consumption of cotton cloth, including the evolution of clothing practices, through which the region interacted with other parts of the world. It advances a recent scholarly emphasis to re-assert the centrality of African societies to the history of the early modern trade diasporas that shaped developments around the Atlantic Ocean.