Top Insights
Combat Proven: African Women in Frontline Infantry and Special Forces
The history of women in African armed forces is a story of gradual but undeniable transformation. During colonial times, women’s roles in African...
Gender Integration and Leadership Gaps in Africa’s War Colleges
During the post-independence decades, Africa’s military academies and war colleges largely reflected the gender dynamics of their time—male-dominated institutions shaped by patriarchal traditions...
Female Commanders in UN Peacekeeping: Leadership Lessons from the Ground
In the decades since the United Nations first deployed peacekeepers to conflict zones, African militaries have played an increasingly prominent role in stabilisation...
Biometric Borders: Evaluating National Rollouts Across Africa
Africa’s border management systems have travelled a long road — from the colonial-era reliance on paper documents and manual checks to the gradual...
Piloting Through Conflict: Risk Management in African Air Operations
In Africa’s volatile security theatre, air operations are often the difference between mission success and catastrophic loss. From counterinsurgency missions over the Sahel...
Private Military Contractors in Africa – Mercenaries, Partners, or Spoilers?
In Africa’s security environment, one of the most polarising forces is the growing presence of Private Military Contractors (PMCs). They are called many...
Counterinsurgency in the Age of Social Media: Hashtag Wars and the Battle for Minds
At 2:37 a.m. on a humid night in northern Mozambique, a short, grainy video appeared on Telegram. It showed a group of armed...
Peace Corridors in Conflict Zones: Humanitarian Highways or Fragile Lifelines?
On a searing August afternoon in 2022, a convoy of white-painted trucks bearing the red crescent snaked through Mali’s Mopti region. A Malian...
Transitional Justice and the Armed Forces: Navigating Past Atrocities
On an autumn morning in October 1997, inside Cape Town’s Good Hope Centre, television cameras zoomed in on a man in olive green...
Disarmament Campaigns: Civilian Buy-In or Security Risk?
The open-air sports stadium in Monrovia was never meant for this. In September 2003, just weeks after Liberia’s warring factions signed the Accra...
