African Border Disorders Addressing Transnational Extremist Organizations

Since the end of the Cold War, the monopoly of legitimate organized force of many African states has been eroded by a mix of rebel groups, violent extremist organizations, and self-defence militias created in response to the rise in organized violence on the continent. African Border Disorders explores the complex relationships that bind states, transnational rebels and extremist organizations, and borders on the African continent. Combining cutting edge network science with geographical analysis, the first part of the book highlights how the fluid alliances and conflicts between rebels, violent extremist organizations and states shape in large measure regional patterns of violence in Africa. The second part of the book examines the spread of Islamist violence around Lake Chad through the lens of the violent Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, which has evolved from a nationally-oriented militia group, to an internationally networked organization. The third part of the book explores how violent extremist organizations conceptualize state boundaries and territory and, reciprocally, how do the civil society and the state respond to the rise of transnational organizations. The book will be essential reading for all students and specialists of African politics and security studies, particularly those specializing on fragile states, sovereignty, new wars, and borders as well as governments and international organizations involved in conflict prevention and early intervention in the region.

Introduction: States, Borders and Political Violence in Africa [Olivier J. Walther and William F.S. Miles] PART I: Social Networks and Spatial Patterns 1. Spatializing the Social Networks of the First Congo War [Steven M. Radil] 2. Exploring the Spatial and Social Networks of Transnational Rebellions in Africa [Sean Everton, Dan Cunningham and Kristen Tsolis] 3. Networks and Spatial Patterns of Extremist Organizations in North and West Africa [Olivier J. Walther, Christian Leuprecht and David Skillicorn] 4. Spatial and Temporal Diffusion of Political Violence in North and West Africa [David B. Skillicorn, Olivier J. Walther, Quan Zheng and Christian Leuprecht] PART II: Transnational Extremism and Policy Responses 5. Nigeria’s Boko Haram: Local, National and Transnational Dynamics [Caitriona Dowd] 6. External Incentives and the African Subregional Response to Boko Haram [Nikolas Emmanuel] PART III: States, Civil Society and Transnational Extremism 7. Terror, Territory and Statehood from Al Qaeda to the Islamic State [Jaume Castan Pinos] 8. Public Perceptions of Violent Extremism in Mali [Bruce Whitehouse] 9. Jihads and Borders: Social Networks and Spatial Patterns in Africa, Present, Past and Future [William F.S. Miles]

Olivier J. Walther is Visiting Associate Professor in African Studies at the University of Florida, USA. William F.S. Miles is Professor of Political Science at Northeastern University in Boston, USA.