Africa

Coverage across North, West, East, Central, and Southern Africa, from insurgency to interstate tension.

96 Dispatches

Will the RSF Defections End the War in Sudan?
Conflicts & Crises

Will the RSF Defections End the War in Sudan?

As founding RSF commanders defect to Sudan's army with men, weapons, and intelligence, the SAF gains its best chance to break the stalemate — at a steep moral cost.

Simon Whistler · June 2, 2026
Mogadishu Rising: Somalia's New Alliances and the Proxy War Taking Shape
Geopolitics & Strategy

Mogadishu Rising: Somalia's New Alliances and the Proxy War Taking Shape

Somalia's federal government is consolidating power through new foreign alliances, drawing the Horn of Africa into a fast-heating regional proxy conflict.

Simon Whistler · June 2, 2026
Could JNIM Build a Caliphate in West Africa? Inside the Sahel's Most Formidable Jihadist Group
Conflicts & Crises

Could JNIM Build a Caliphate in West Africa? Inside the Sahel's Most Formidable Jihadist Group

JNIM is the Sahel's dominant jihadist group, controlling more territory than ever. We examine whether it could declare a caliphate in West Africa.

Simon Whistler · June 2, 2026
Russia Is Failing in Africa: How the Sahel Project Unravelled
Geopolitics & Strategy

Russia Is Failing in Africa: How the Sahel Project Unravelled

Russia's Africa Corps was sold to the Sahel's juntas as the cure for jihadist violence. After Kidal fell and Mali burned, the project is unravelling.

Simon Whistler · June 2, 2026
Is Mali About to Collapse? The Coordinated Offensive That Shook Bamako
Conflicts & Crises

Is Mali About to Collapse? The Coordinated Offensive That Shook Bamako

A multi-city insurgent offensive killed Mali's defense minister and forced Russian forces to retreat, raising the question of whether the junta can survive.

Simon Whistler · June 2, 2026
The Sahel at War: When the Government Is Worse Than the Jihadists
Conflicts & Crises

The Sahel at War: When the Government Is Worse Than the Jihadists

Across Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, military juntas backed by Russian mercenaries are killing more civilians than the al-Qaeda insurgency they claim to fight.

Simon Whistler · June 2, 2026
Ethiopia Has Entered Sudan's War: How Two of the Century's Worst Conflicts Could Merge
Conflicts & Crises

Ethiopia Has Entered Sudan's War: How Two of the Century's Worst Conflicts Could Merge

How Ethiopia's covert backing of the RSF and the fall of Kurmuk threaten to merge Sudan's civil war with the Tigray War into a regional mega-war.

Simon Whistler · June 2, 2026
The Islamic State's Quiet Resurgence: A Global Network Rebuilt for the Shadows
Conflicts & Crises

The Islamic State's Quiet Resurgence: A Global Network Rebuilt for the Shadows

Stripped of its caliphate, the Islamic State has gone global, online, and underground—expanding from Somalia to Syria to the Sahel while the world looks away.

Simon Whistler · June 2, 2026
How Morocco Won Western Sahara at the Negotiating Table, Not on the Battlefield
Geopolitics & Strategy

How Morocco Won Western Sahara at the Negotiating Table, Not on the Battlefield

After 55 years of conflict, Morocco's diplomatic campaign and a new autonomy plan have all but sealed its control of Western Sahara over the Polisario Front.

Simon Whistler · June 2, 2026
The Most Overlooked Conflicts of 2025, Ranked
Conflicts & Crises

The Most Overlooked Conflicts of 2025, Ranked

A ranked survey of 2025's most ignored wars — from the Sahel and Cameroon to Haiti, the Congo, Papua, and Sudan, the year's most underreported conflict.

Simon Whistler · June 2, 2026
The Situation Room: China, Japan, Syria, Sudan, and the Logic of the Trump Doctrine
Geopolitics & Strategy

The Situation Room: China, Japan, Syria, Sudan, and the Logic of the Trump Doctrine

A wide-angle analysis of a China-Japan war, Syria after Assad, the El-Fasher massacre, the Trump Doctrine, Mexico's cartels, and nuclear landmines.

Simon Whistler · June 2, 2026
The 21st Century's Deadliest Conflicts, Ranked by Death Toll
Conflicts & Crises

The 21st Century's Deadliest Conflicts, Ranked by Death Toll

A continent-by-continent accounting of the 21st century's deadliest wars, ranked by direct death toll—from the Second Congo War to Ethiopia's Tigray War.

Simon Whistler · June 2, 2026