Militancy, Border Security, and Democracy in North Africa and the Sahel

This all-day conference brought together leading scholars from around the world to examine security and governance challenges in the Maghreb-Sahel, many of them concentrated along national boundaries. The permeability of borders, along with political vacuums and economic marginalization in the hinterlands, has transformed border communities into epicenters of identity-driven politics, militancy, violent conflict, and organized transnational crime.

This event was co-hosted with the African Peacebuilding Network of the Social Science Research Council and the National Endowment for Democracy.

Agenda

8:30 a.m.
Registration

9:00 to 9:15 a.m.
Opening Remarks

• Michele Dunne, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• Cyril Obi, Social Science Research Council

9:15 to 10:45 a.m.
Insecurity in Border Areas in Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria

• Amy Hawthorne, Project on Middle East Democracy
• Dalia Ghanem-Yazbeck, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• Rebecca Murray, Freelance journalist and researcher 
• Moderator: Samba Tall, The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali ​

11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Evolution of Security Threats in Mali, Mauritania and Nigeria

• Anouar Boukhars, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• Boubacar N’Diaye, The College of Wooster
• Gbemisola Animasawun, University of Ilorin
• Moderator: Ismail Rashid,Vassar College​

12:30 to 1:00 p.m.
Lunch

1:00 to 1:45 p.m.
Keynote Address

• John Desrocher, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Egypt and Maghreb Affairs

2:00 to 3:30 p.m.
Politics, Democracy, and Peacebuilding in the Sahel

• Kamissa Camara, The National Endowment for Democracy
• Muhammad Fraser-Rahim, United States Institute of Peace
• Cheri Baker, U.S. Department of State
• Charles Ukeje, Addis Ababa University 
• Moderator: Cyril Obi, Social Science Research Council