Africa

77 Items

Report - Hate Speech International

Continuity and Change: The Evolution and Resilience of Al-Shabab's Media Insurgency, 2006–2016

| November 2016

A new report from Hate Speech International examines the history and evolution of al-Shabab's media operations capabilities and narrative messaging. The report gives particular attention to their strategic use and position within the insurgents' broader strategy of territorial control, survival, and rule in light of shifts on the ground inside Somalia and, since 2012, increasingly in neighboring countries such as Kenya.

Jens Stoltenberg speaks to students at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Bennett Craig

Speech

The Three Ages of NATO: An Evolving Alliance

| Sep. 23, 2016

Jens Stoltenberg,NATO Secretary General, discussed the future of the NATO alliance during this speech, given at the Harvard Kennedy School on September 23, 2016. He described the alliance as a responsive organization, capable of adapting to changes in the international security landscape but committed to the continuity of its founding values. In particular, he emphasized the necessity of maintaining a policy of absolute solidarity among member states, especially  in light of the exacerbating civil war in Syria and Russia’s aggressive stance toward countries to the East of NATO member state borders.

People hold up a banner as a mark of solidarity at the Place de la Bourse following attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium.

Getty Images / Carl Court

Analysis & Opinions - Agence Global

The painful lessons of Brussels seem hard to learn, so they continue

| March 29, 2016

"Hundreds of thousands of desperate and dehumanized individuals transform their former local grumblings or security-forced passivity into a growing global network of terrorists and anarchists whose numbers are beyond the capacity of any intelligence system’s ability to monitor, arrest, prevent, or shut down."

Iraqi security forces stand next to their vehicles as they clear al-Sajarya district on the eastern outskirts of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, on January 17, 2016, a few weeks after declaring victory against the Islamic State (IS) group.

Getty Images/M. Al-Dulaimi

Analysis & Opinions - Agence Global

Think again, guys…’bomb away’ is not an effective policy

| January 16, 2016

"The main problem is that foreign military actions tend to achieve exactly the opposite of the intended goals. Military assaults against terror groups, resistance movements, and just plain old civilian demonstrators or non-violent rebels — whether carried out by local governments or foreign powers, or both — tend to harden and expand the resolve of those who challenge the states in question..."

Demonstrators protest outside the embassy of Saudi Arabia against the execution of prominent Saudi Shia cleric Nimr Baqir al-Nimr by Saudi authorities, in Tehran, Iran in January 2016.

Getty Images/Anadolu Agency

Analysis & Opinions - Agence Global

The dark heart of 2015’s legacy across the Middle East

| January 2, 2016

"Freedom of expression and participation in the public sphere are powerful antidotes to the sense of hopelessness, marginalization, and helplessness that were such important drivers of the Arab uprisings and revolutions in 2011-12. The freedom to speak out and engage politically in society keeps people seeking non-violent ways to repair the broken systems and promises of their societies. For educated young adults, it also helps to keep them living in their own countries, rather than emigrating and depriving their societies of their talents and energy..."

Audio

Podcast: "Security States, Failed States, Islamic States: The Causes and Consequences of the Crisis of Arab Statehood" with Rami Khouri

| December 22, 2015

An audio recording of a public talk by Rami Khouri, MEI Non-Resident Senior Fellow; Senior Fellow, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy, American University of Beirut; Syndicated Columnist.