SWAC webinar "Wars and Conflicts in the Sahara-Sahel"

21 March 2018, 13:00-14:00 (CET)

‌‌Faced with the political pressures of successive coup d’états, protest movements and the threat of Islamic extremism, the Sahel and the Sahara experience compounded threats to peace in an increasingly volatile global environment. Creating viable and sustainable paths to regional peace and security requires in-depth analysis of the root causes of violent conflict and the critical factors escalating tensions between warring factions.

Based on the SWAC West African Paper, Wars and Conflicts in the Sahara-Sahel published in 2017, a technical webinar took place on Wednesday 21^st March 2018.

The webinar featured a presentation by Olivier Walther, Ph.D, Visiting Associate Professor at the Center for African Studies, University of Florida (UF) and author of the SWAC publication on the topic, as part of the collaboration between SWAC/OECD and the Sahel Research Group (UF). Rinaldo Depagne (West Africa Project Director, International Crisis Group) and Francesco Strazzari (Adjunct Professor, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs Consortium for Research on Terrorism and International Crime) were panellists.

Key discussion points included:

Ethnic and socioeconomic context of regional violence
Role of identity politics in triggering violent conflict
Interplay between local and global boundaries in cross border conflict

Watch the webinar:

Presentation:

Related:

Wars and Conflicts in the Sahara-Sahel (West African Paper)
The blurred boundaries of political violence in the Sahel-Sahara (blog)
Maps & Facts: The G5 Sahel and its joint force
The unstable foundations of political stability in Chad (West African Paper)
Defying the odds? Nigerien responses to foreign and domestic security challenges (West African Paper)
Agricultural market activity and Boko Haram attacks in northeastern Nigeria (West African Paper)
The politics of Islam in Mali: Can religion be part of the answer? (OECD Insights/International Crisis Group Blog)
SWAC work on security
"Au Sahel, le discours... et la méthode" (Le Monde article)
The Social Roots of Jihadist Violence in Burkina Faso’s North (International Crisis Group)
Jihadism in Mali and the Sahel: evolving dynamics and patterns (Institute for Security Studies)
Stability and vulnerability in the Sahel: the regional roles and internal dynamics of Chad and Niger (Reliefweb)
The Sahel : Converging challenges, compounding risks - A region under high pressure (UN OCHA Humanitarian Response)

Regional interventions: