Members Only Flexing Some Muscle
Having carried out several attacks in the last couple of months, al Shabaab remains a “very high” threat to security in Somalia and surrounding countries, […] More
Latest Africa Briefs
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Members Only South Africa: ANC Losing Its Grip on Power
The political party almost synonymous with anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, the African National Congress (ANC), is losing its grip on power. At the same time, […] More
Members Only Urban-Rural Divide
The political party associated with anti-apartheid leader and former South African President Nelson Mandela – the African National Congress (ANC) – may, for the first […] More
Members Only Corrupt Party
South Africa’s ruling party since the end of apartheid in 1994, the African National Congress (ANC), has been dropping in popular support, exemplified by recent […] More
Members Only Algeria: A Bulwark Against ISIS
With the Islamic State (ISIS) facing imminent defeat in its Libyan stronghold of Sirte, questions have arisen over where the group might seek refuge next. […] More
Members Only Obstacles to ISIS Expansion
On September 21, 2014, a group of Algerian jihadists, named Jund El Khilafa (The soldiers of the Caliphate) kidnapped Hervé Gourdel, a 55-year-old French nature […] More
Members Only Is Algeria Next for the Islamic State?
Fighting jihadi groups has been compared more than once to whack-a-mole. You thump a group here and it pops up there. You thump it again […] More
Members Only Al-Shabaab Building in Advance of Somali Elections
The run-up to Somali elections, slated to begin in less than a month, has Somalia watchers concerned that the terrorist group al-Shabaab will seize the […] More
Members Only Boko Haram: The Plague Affecting Nigeria and Beyond
Despite sustained efforts by the Nigerian military to root out Boko Haram from its stronghold in northeastern Nigeria, the terrorist organization continues to plague the […] More
Members Only The Islamic State's West Africa Province
A key moment on the Boko Haram timeline occurred in March 2015, when the group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS). According to Dr. […] More
Members Only Civil War Within Nigerian Islam
There is a leadership struggle underway within Boko Haram, the violent, extremist movement that has claimed more than 20,000 lives since 2011 and destabilized the […] More
Members Only The Audacity of the Niger Delta Avengers
Various assumptions have emerged in attempts to explain the resurgence of armed militancy in the Niger Delta since February. Some explanations seek to connect the […] More
Members Only Niger Delta Militants Compound Nigeria’s Security Crises
Nigeria faces three distinct security crises, with one common thread: failure of governance. Terrorist group Boko Haram continues to wreak havoc in the north, a […] More
Members Only A Deep Sense of Grievance
Militants in the south of Nigeria – in the area known as the Niger Delta – are blowing up oil pipelines and destroying other essential […] More
Members Only Climate Change in Ethiopia: Managing the Risks
At least 97 people were killed and hundreds more injured across the Oromia and Amhara regions of Ethiopia over the weekend, when Ethiopian security forces […] More
Members Only Has Ethiopia Turned a Corner?
As a landlocked country with three of its immediate neighbors ranked in the top four of the most Fragile States Index, it is in Ethiopia’s […] More
Members Only Increased Instability
Ethiopia faced one of the worst droughts in decades this year due to unusually strong El Niño effects, linked to climate change. The Cipher Brief’s […] More
Members Only The Status Quo Will Not Work in South Sudan
Around 60,000 people have fled South Sudan in just a few weeks – since renewed violence broke out in the capital Juba on July 7 […] More
Members Only What Went Wrong
At the heart of South Sudan’s descent into chaos is a failed effort at security sector reform. When Sudan’s long civil war ended in 2005, […] More
Members Only A Peace Agreement in Tatters
The devastating clashes that took place in South Sudan’s capital Juba between July 7 and 11 left hundreds dead and forced thousands to flee their […] More
Members Only Kenya: Private Sector and Government Coordinate on National Security
Terrorist groups like al-Shabaab, ethnic violence, petty criminals, and corruption threaten Kenya’s security. The East African country has relied heavily on an unregulated and partially […] More
Members Only A Positive Step in the Right Direction
Kenya’s new Private Security Regulation Act will regulate the private security industry and allow more cooperation between the private sector and the government on national […] More
Members Only Securing a Nation
On May 18, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta approved the Private Security Regulation Bill, an act which is heralding in a new dawn for the private […] More
Members Only Burundi: A Path Toward Civil War?
The current turmoil within Burundi, a tiny landlocked country in the middle of Africa with a population of nearly 11 million, poses a threat to […] More