Africa

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

95 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 · May 23, 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 · May 4, 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 · May 1, 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 · April 30, 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 · April 28, 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 · April 11, 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 · April 4, 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 · April 1, 2026
Sudan's War is Spilling Over its Borders
Geopolitics & Strategy

Sudan's War is Spilling Over its Borders

RSF cross-border raids into Chad have killed Chadian soldiers and closed the border, threatening to ignite a wider regional war fueled by ethnic tensions and geopolitical rivalry.

Simon Whistler · March 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 · February 17, 2026
Sudan's Military is on a Roll
Conflicts & Crises

Sudan's Military is on a Roll

Sudan’s army broke two sieges in seventeen days, reversing a war most analysts had written off. What changed, and what it means for the RSF.

Simon Whistler · February 6, 2026
Niger's Ignored Nuclear Crisis
Geopolitics & Strategy

Niger's Ignored Nuclear Crisis

An Islamic State attack on Niamey's international airport exposed Niger's deepening security collapse — and the jihadist proto-state forming in its countryside.

Simon Whistler · February 5, 2026