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
...
Rida Lyammouri
Senior Fellow
Rida Lyammouri is a senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS). He is also a senior West Africa and Lake Chad Basin researcher and advisor, with expertise in regional conflicts, violent extremism, climate change, migration, and trafficking. He specialises in analysing climate-conflict interactions in the Lake Chad Basin, West Africa, and the Sahel, studying resource scarcity, adaptive strategies, and socio-economic impacts. His multidisciplinary approach combines climate science and conflict analysis, offering insights into the region's climate-security nexus.       ...
Abdoul Salam Bello
Senior Project Officer, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification; Senior Fellow, Africa Center, Atlantic Council
...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Authors
    Dida Badi
    February 20, 2010
    The industrial revolution underwent by Europe in the 18th century has triggered the need for the major colonial powers to find new markets for their manufactured products. It is in this colonial competitive framework that European explorers delivered information about the different access roads, as well as the Tuareg tribes, notably the Kel Ajjer and the Kel Ahaggar. ...
  • From

    24
    5:30 pm March 2022
    Africafé est une émission du Policy Center for the New South qui décrypte l’actualité des organisations africaines et de l’Afrique. A travers de courtes interviews, l’émission tente de proposer d’aborder de manière pédagogique les enjeux des organisations africaines et l’actualité du continent. Dans cet épisode Abdelhak Bassou senior fellow au Policy Center for the New South analyse les différentes implications liées à la CEN-SAD et son développement ainsi que les opportunités pour cette organisation de faire une coordination entre les organisations régionales en matière de paix et de sécurité. ...
  • From

    16
    5:30 pm February 2022
    Rida Lyammouri, Senior Fellow at Policy Center for the New South, will be speaking at the webinar “security and governence in africa: sahel and libya” organized by frica Study Group in partnership with The Middle East Institute. The security dynamics of the Maghreb and the Sahel are intertwined and the consequences of the Libyan conflict on the Sahel have been serious. Since its beginning in 2011, this conflict has triggered global concern about the economic, security, and geostrategic impacts on the Sahel. Current threats are posed by the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation, and misuse of arms, as well as the flow of armed groups and mercenaries. Despite considerable international efforts, especially by African countries, the Sahel is still experiencing one of the ...