Transnational Terrorism in the West African and the Sahel Region: An Exploration of Causes and Remedies

Abstract

In Africa, while international terrorism has been a salient threat, it has been particularly pronounced in the Horn, West and the predominantly Arabic North. In the Western region of Africa, terror has assumed diverse dimensions. Against this background, this paper seeks to explore the causes and remedies of transnational terrorism in West Africa and the Sahel region. Specifically, the paper analyzes the geopolitical push and pull factors predisposing the West Africa and the Sahel region to transnational terrorism by examining how an inter-play of the state as a domestic player and the state as an international hegemonic pawn engage in actions that serve as a petri dish in which terrorism is cultured and perpetuated. Adopting a qualitative data collection method that relies mainly on secondary and current affairs data on terrorism in the West African region, the paper finds that domestically, terrorism in the West African and the Trans-Sahel region is a product of a decay in state-society relations. This decay a result from narrow definition of the state i.e., as a tool of regime securitization and perpetuation. Over time, this regime securitization and perpetuation agenda result in the neglect of the articulation of the aspirations of the citizenry in public policy which further alienates the state from the people thus allowing the organic maturation of terror. With regard to the state as an international actor, the paper finds that post-September 11 security arrangements that were forged as part of the globalized fight against international terror engendered the militarization of the state which inadvertently occasioned state excesses against the citizenry. The paper calls for the need to address the root causes of terrorism and militarism in the region; an exploration of "bottom-up" local solutions to the challenges of terrorism and violent extremism; enhancing state-society relations in the region and strengthening regional co-operation amongst the states in the West African and the Sahel region.