Africa

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

99 Dispatches

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
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
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
Falling Russians, India's Balancing Act, and the Sahel's Shifting Alliances
Geopolitics & Strategy

Falling Russians, India's Balancing Act, and the Sahel's Shifting Alliances

Russia's wave of fatal high-rise falls, India's pivot between China and Washington, Mali courting the US, and Ghana's Bawku crisis under the JNIM shadow.

Simon Whistler · June 2, 2026
Situation Room AMA: Rojava, Mozambique, the Afghan-Pakistan Flashpoint, and Why Europe Isn't a Superpower
Geopolitics & Strategy

Situation Room AMA: Rojava, Mozambique, the Afghan-Pakistan Flashpoint, and Why Europe Isn't a Superpower

A reader-driven survey of four under-covered fault lines — Kurdish-run Rojava, Mozambique's post-election revolt, the Afghan-Pakistani border war, and Europe's unrealized power.

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
China's Wa State, Russia's Sahel Collapse, Colombia's Slide, and the ISIS Comeback
Conflicts & Crises

China's Wa State, Russia's Sahel Collapse, Colombia's Slide, and the ISIS Comeback

Four flashpoints converge in 2025: China's Wa State proxy in Myanmar, Wagner's Sahel exit, Colombia's security crisis, and an ISIS resurgence in Iraq and Syria.

Simon Whistler · June 2, 2026
Situation Room: A Yemen Ground Invasion, al-Shabaab's March on Mogadishu, Haiti's Collapse, and Nigeria's Massacres
Conflicts & Crises

Situation Room: A Yemen Ground Invasion, al-Shabaab's March on Mogadishu, Haiti's Collapse, and Nigeria's Massacres

Four conflicts at the breaking point: an imminent anti-Houthi offensive in Yemen, al-Shabaab encircling Mogadishu, Haiti past collapse, and massacres in central Nigeria.

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
The Wagner Group, Evolving: Cossack Camps, Rosgvardia, and the Africa Corps
Geopolitics & Strategy

The Wagner Group, Evolving: Cossack Camps, Rosgvardia, and the Africa Corps

How the Wagner Group survived Prigozhin's death—folding into Russia's National Guard at home and rebranding as the Africa Corps abroad under Putin's command.

Simon Whistler · June 2, 2026
Why the UAE Is Fueling Sudan's Apocalyptic Civil War
Conflicts & Crises

Why the UAE Is Fueling Sudan's Apocalyptic Civil War

How Abu Dhabi's weapons, money, and influence have kept Sudan's Rapid Support Forces fighting, and the murky motives behind the intervention.

Simon Whistler · June 2, 2026