Estimates are that more than half of all Africans will live in cities by 2025. This rapid pace of urbanization is creating a new locus of fragility in many African states—as evidenced by the burgeoning slums around many of the continent’s urban areas—and the accompanying rise in violence, organized crime, and the potential for instability. These evolving threats, in turn, have profound implications for Africa’s security sector.
African states face a wide array of unconventional threats that generally are transnational and interconnected. The many domestic militant groups, international criminal enterprises, and democratic governance and institutional deficits common across the continent require multi-dimensional strategies bounded by the rule of law, vigorously implemented by African leaders, and continually supported by international partners.
Africa’s security challenges are increasingly defined by fragmentation of political authority, mounting political influence of armed sub-state actors, and increased vigilantism. The reliance of nonstate combatants on external sources of funding and logistical support, meanwhile, underscores that peace and security on the continent is closely linked to the cooperation of contiguous countries.
Good overview of the breadth of current security challenges and flashpoints on a subregion by subregion basis. Thoughtful, informative, balanced, accessible, and policy relevant.
The author makes thoughtful predictions on what Africa will look like in 25 years, with attention paid to security, al Qaeda, democracy, and economics.