Plural Security: How Lebanon’s Divided Authority Seeks Order
A month has now passed since two suicide bombers detonated explosives in the southern Beirut suburb of Bourj el-Barajneh, killing as many as 40 people. The bombings, immediately claimed by the...
View ArticleWhat Challenges Does 2016 Hold for Sub-Saharan Africa?
Akin to its physical landscape, the political environment of Sub-Saharan Africa in 2015 varied greatly from country to country. On a positive note, elections in politically polarized countries such as...
View ArticleThe Battle for Haiti’s Security Is Largely Political
Hopes for a peaceful transition ending another drawn-out electoral crisis in Haiti dimmed when gunmen attacked a police station in Les Cayes on May 16 this year, looting weapons and leaving one officer...
View ArticleCan Neighborhood Watch Ease Somalia’s Insecurity?
An al-Shabaab bomb that killed 10 people in a Mogadishu beach resort in August highlighted the city’s chronic insecurity. This will be in even sharper contrast in the run-up to Somali elections...
View ArticleA New Path Emerges for Troubled Somali Security
Ethiopia’s recent military withdrawal from key areas in Somalia, and the speed at which al-Shabaab extremists filled the power vacuum, is a significant reminder of the limited progress made in building...
View ArticleElections and Economics Add to Africa’s 2017 Security Challenges
As always, there were mixed sociopolitical fortunes across the vast landscape of sub-Saharan Africa in 2016. On a positive note, the year saw relatively peaceful elections take place in Benin, the...
View ArticleSustaining Peace in Security Transitions: The Liberian Opportunity
On December 21 last year, the United Nations Security Council extended the mandate of the peacekeeping operation in Liberia (UNMIL) and set its end date as March 30, 2018. The Council hailed the...
View ArticleAlleged Chinese Interference Creates Strategic Conundrum for Australia
Australia’s most enduring conspiracy theories surround the inexplicable disappearance of a serving prime minister, Harold Holt, while swimming in 1967. The most elaborate theory holds that he was...
View ArticleMexico’s Security Conundrum
Last year marked Mexico’s deadliest year on record. The latest estimates provided by the Mexican interior ministry place the annualized homicide tally at 25,340 registered cases, while the total number...
View ArticleAre Mercenaries Friends or Foes of African Governments and the UN?
This week, Equatorial Guinea took over as chair of the United Nations Security Council and began its tenure by hosting a high-level debate on the use and impact of mercenaries, a topic of particular...
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