Quick Facts Geographical Size: 482,077 square miles. Eighth largest country in Africa. A landlocked country, Mali’s porous borders extend approximately 4,500 miles and border seven countries: Mauritania to the West, Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso to the south, Niger to the east, and Algeria to the north. Population: 18.5 million (2018). Language: French (Official), Bambara (80%), Berber, Arabic. Religion: Muslim (90%), indigenous beliefs (9%), Christian [...]
Building a Crisis Management Team A phone call in the middle of the night…the usual beginning to a crisis. Human factors are stacked against you: you are half-awake and have a hard understanding the information streaming over the phone, the person on the other end of the line is stressed and speaking quickly, and the [...]
Image: World Economic Forum Following the signing of the historic peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea on July 9, 2018 (read Ethiopia and Eritrea: Ushering in Peace), the U.S. Secretary of State issued a statement commending both leaders and pledging support to the peace process. While the reconciliation events seemed to unfold fairly quickly, it was the result of [...]
On July 9, 2018, leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a historic peace agreement ending years of tensions and conflict. Read Ethiopia & Eritrea: Ushering in Peace to better understand the peace agreement and current affairs, and Ethiopia & Eritrea: History to review the history of relations between the two countries from colonialism to present-day. As Ethiopia embarks on [...]
As pre-colonial empires and kingdoms ruled the Horn of Africa, borders shifted and were constantly debated. However, colonization at the end of the 19th century was the true turning point in determining the future of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea, as well as the future of the entire continent. In 1890, after successfully defeating an autonomous [...]
July 9th, 2018 marked the end of a peace summit between Ethiopia and Eritrea. A historic day for both countries, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki signed the Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship between Eritrea and Ethiopia that formally ended the conflict that has persisted between them for the past two decades. [...]
Last week’s article discussed the violence at Lake Chad as a result of extremist groups and transnational criminal organizations. This week’s article will take a brief look at U.S. involvement in the Lake Chad Basin region, specifically with the country of Chad. The U.S. provides military assistance to Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Niger — the four border countries of [...]
Last week’s article discussed the humanitarian crisis at Lake Chad where food insecurity and widespread poverty continue to afflict the local population. This crisis, born out of resource scarcity and inadequate government support, has allowed for violent extremist groups and transnational criminal organizations to expand and operate. Porous borders, ungoverned spaces, lack of security, and local conflicts [...]
Last week’s article introduced the people of Lake Chad — a diverse confluence of ethnicities, nationalities and livelihoods. The following article will expand on the human aspect of Lake Chad and emphasize the current humanitarian and displacement crisis. Climate change trends such as desertification, the shrinking of the lake, increasing food and water insecurity, ineffective governance, a growing [...]
Last week’s article discussed Lake Chad’s environmental conditions, focusing on the causes and consequences of the lake’s significant reduction in past decades. As a source of life for the surrounding region, Lake Chad’s resources are critical to the survival of the people that call it home. This article focuses specifically on the human populations of Lake [...]
