Five Years After Kidnapping, Nigeria's Chibok School Girls Fade From the International Scene
Five years since Boko Haram kidnapped 276 female students in Chibok, the kidnapping has largely disappeared from the western public's attention.
Nigeria's River State Governor Abolishes School Fees
It is widely recognized by Nigerians that a significant barrier to their country's social and economic development is the limited extent and poor quality of public education, especially at the primar…
South Africa's Ramaphosa Highlights Land Reform in State of the Nation Address
In his June 20 state of the nation address to parliament, President Cyril Ramaphosa laid out a short-term approach to land reform, including a call for the expropriation of privately owned land without compensation for distribution.
Nigeria Security Tracker Weekly Update: June 8–14
This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from June 8 to 14, 2019.
Nigeria's "Emerging Middle Class" Is Leaving
Many of those who are tech-savvy or have other job qualifications in demand—current or potential members of such a middle class—are leaving. Many seek to raise their families abroad and do not intend to come back. Popular destinations include Canada and Australia, both of which have skills-based immigration programs. Others, for example, deliberately overstay their visas in the United States, which has led to a crackdown on U.S. visas for Nigerians.
The Trilateralism Dilemma
Promoting greater trilateral cooperation between the U.S.-South Korea and U.S.-Japan alliances would bring Northeast Asia closer to the North Atlantic model of collective defense, but doing so comes …
Blog Post by John Warden Asia Unbound
Amnesty Sets Agenda to Address Nigeria's Human Rights Violations
On the occasion of President Muhammadu Buhari's second inauguration, Amnesty International has issued a report, "Nigeria: Human Rights Agenda," a twenty-page indictment of human rights violations by "state and non-state actors," but with the emphasis on the state security services. It calls on the Buhari administration to address perennial human rights abuses and makes specific recommendations as to what needs to be done.
Campaign 2020: John Delaney, Democratic Presidential Candidate
Someone had to be first. When it comes to the 2020 presidential campaign, that person is John Delaney. He's certainly no Johnny-come-lately to the race. He declared his candidacy back on July 28, 201…
Distinguished Nigerian Ambassador Elected President of UNGA
On June 4, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) elected Ambassador Tijani Muhammad-Bande its president for the 2019–2020 term. The presidency rotates between representatives of the five regional groups in …
New Audio Offers Potential Window Into ISWA Decision-Making
Abdulbasit Kassim, leading Boko Haram scholar, recently discovered a thirty-eight-minute recording of a purported Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) communique. I translated it from the original Kanuri. It provides a particular version and explanation of ISWA's immediate history, and sheds light on why the group executed Mamman Nur, one of the Boko Haram's founding fathers and an influential ideologue, its internal decision-making, and ISWA's relationship with the Islamic State (IS). It is not clear, however, the extent to which what is described in the audio is true to what actually happened.
John B. Hurford Memorial Lecture
John B. Bellinger
Adjunct Senior Fellow for International and National Security Law
Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies
Paul B. Stares
General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action