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Of Walls and Men: Securing African Borders in the 21st Century

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Focus Stratégique
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Accroche

African borders are well-known for their porosity. Although they are crucial economic interfaces, they also crystallize political and security tensions, in both inter-state wars and intra-state conflicts involving rebels or autonomist groups. 

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The continent’s internal borders can also be exploited as a resource fueling these confrontations through trafficking, contraband, and corruption but also because they may offer the protection of a diplomatic sanctuary. To deal with these issues, the African defense and security forces need to engage in various strategies aimed at securing these areas. In order to do so, they tend to resort to two major types of mechanisms. On the one hand, the « walls » and other static devices which can rely on rather traditional means or use new innovative technologies. On the other hand, the security forces, which have to increase their mobility and be able to cooperate both on a national and international level in order to guarantee their efficiency.
 
 

 

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978-2-36567-948-0

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Of Walls and Men: Securing African Borders in the 21st Century

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 A soldier watching a sunset on an armored infantry fighting vehicle
Security Studies Center
Accroche centre

Heir to a tradition dating back to the founding of Ifri, the Security Studies Center provides public and private decision-makers as well as the general public with the keys to understanding power relations and contemporary modes of conflict as well as those to come. Through its positioning at the juncture of politics and operations, the credibility of its civil-military team and the wide distribution of its publications in French and English, the Center for Security Studies constitutes in the French landscape of think tanks a unique center of research and influence on the national and international defense debate.

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Return to the East: the Russian Threat and the French Pivot to Europe's Eastern Flank

Date de publication
13 June 2024
Accroche

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has flung Europe’s Eastern flank into a new phase of strategic confrontation. It has had a major effect on France’s position, which was previously somewhat timid, leading it to significantly reinforce its deterrence and defense posture in support of the collective defense of Europe, in the name of strategic solidarity and the protection of its security interests.

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Military Stockpiles: A Life-Insurance Policy in a High-Intensity Conflict?

Date de publication
06 December 2022
Accroche

The war in Ukraine is a reminder of the place of attrition from high-intensity conflict in European armies that have been cut to the bone after three decades of budget cuts. All European forces have had to reduce their stocks to the bare minimum. As a result, support to Ukraine has meant a significant drain on their operational capabilities. A significant amount of decommissioned systems were also donated, due to the lack of depth in operational fleets.

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France’s Place Within NATO: Toward a Strategic Aggiornamento?

Date de publication
27 June 2023
Accroche

With a rapidly deteriorating security environment, a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, internal disputes exploding into public view, and questions being raised about the scope of its security responsibilities, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) seemed to be in dire straits at the time of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Towards a European Nuclear Deterrent

Date de publication
20 September 2024
Accroche

While major European powers may have to contemplate nuclear deterrence without America, the national flexibility and European financial support required to make it feasible is currently difficult to imagine.

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Of Walls and Men: Securing African Borders in the 21st Century