Fighting for Africa: External Power competition in the Sahel

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Fighting for Africa: External Power competition in the Sahel

December 16, 2020

President Trump may not enact his threatened US drawdown of troops from the Sahel, but President Biden will still face pressure to end America’s “forever wars” and reduce the number of American lives and treasure lost to fighting terrorism in Africa. If the United States pulls back from the Sahel, terrorist groups active there may seek to export unrest to more-secure coastal countries like Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, and Togo. Can Europe fill the void? And will Russia, China, or other actors try to move in and assert their own influence in the region? Chair: Khalid Chegraoui, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South TBC Speakers: . Pierre Englebert, H. Russell Smith Professor of International Relations, Pomona College; Senior Fellow, Africa Center, Atlantic Council . Rida Lyammouri, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South . Abdoul Salam Bello, Senior Project Officer, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification; Senior Fellow, Africa Center, Atlantic Council

Speakers

Khalid Chegraoui

Senior Fellow

Khalid Chegraoui is Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South and Vice Dean of Political Sciences and International Relations at the Faculty of Governance, Economic and Social Sciences of the Mohammed VI University. He began his teaching and research career in 1992 as a Research Assistant Professor at Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah University in Fez after earning his first doctorate in African Studies from the Mohammed V University in Rabat focusing on West Sub-Saharan Africa. He also earned a Doctorate of State in African Studies from the same University in 2002, where he focused on Contemporary West Africa, in 2003 he became Professor of History and Political Anthropology at the Institute of African Studies, Mohammed V University, consultant on African and Middle Ea ...

Pierre Englebert

H. Russell Smith Professor of International Relations, Pomona College; Senior Fellow, Africa Center, Atlantic Council

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Rida Lyammouri

Senior Fellow

Rida Lyammouri is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South. His research activities focus on geopolitics and international relations in the West African Sahel, a region he has worked on for about a decade. He has extensive experience supporting both governmental and non-governmental organizations in the areas of international aid, development, and security. Some of the topics he covers include countering violent extremism (CVE), conflict prevention and conflict sensitivity, humanitarian access, and migration. Mr. Lyammouri has contributed to numerous in-depth research and analysis reports aiming at building deeper understanding of regional and domestic challenges. He is often solicited by various stakeholders to provide policy recommendations on how to address va ...