The myth of global Islamic terrorism and local conflict in Mali and the Sahel

Malian Crisis and the Lingering Problem of Good Governance

“…1 Other works stressing the role of poor governance in generating the Malian crisis include Bergmaschi (2014), van Vilet (2013, Wing (2013), van de Walle (2012, and Dowd and Raleigh (2013 20 A snowball sample is a method in which existing participants recruit future participants from among people whom they know. In this case, we were asking participants to identify other IDPs.…”

“…Analysts have described the Northern region of the country as chronically 'misgoverned' (Dowd and Raleigh 2013;Raleigh and Dowd 2013;Wing 2013). The Malian state struggles to control the various actors competing for power and influence in this region including traditional authorities, traffickers, and insurgent groups.…”

The Isolated Islamists: The Case of the Allied Democratic Forces in the Ugandan-Congolese Borderland

“…Clear fissures have emerged on several issues and such divisions have often contributed to the disparate nature of alliance patterns. 45 One issue of contention is the identification of the primary target for Jihadists, encapsulated in the "far enemy vs. near enemy" debate. Global Jihadists like Al-Qaeda focus primarily on the "far enemy"-United States and other Western countries deemed to be responsible for the marginalization and persecution of Islam.…”

Comparative Challenges in Securing the Horn of Africa and Sahara

“…In the Sahara, they came to control smuggling routes and carry out kidnappings to continue the jihad against the Algerian regime, its Western supporters, and Sahelian states. AQIM and its offshoots seem to have settled on operating in the Sahara, 29 and it could be concluded that it is primarily a bush-roaming insurgency, while maintaining the universalistic goal of establishing a caliphate in the Maghreb and West Africa.…”