Spanish FM José Borell

Springtime for Political Islam in North Africa: Defying the Western ‘Fear-Mongering’?

Islamist groupings across North Africa – who had long faced severe repression from the recently deposed dictators and were commonly denounced by the West as security threats – now lead three of the four new democratically elected governments in the region. But the Islamist parties that have suddenly found themselves in power across North Africa […]

Niger: France to begin withdrawing troops ‘this week’, as Nigeria’s FM warns intervention ‘still on table’

French troops will begin withdrawing from Niger “this week”, Paris announced on Thursday (5 October), while Nigeria’s top diplomat has said that a military intervention by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS was “still on the table”. “We will begin our disengagement operation this week, in good order, safely and in coordination with the Nigerians,” […]

Congo-Rwanda talks collapse as conditions for M23 negotiations remain unresolved

Leaders from Congo and Rwanda canceled a much-anticipated meeting in Angola intended to ease the crisis caused by the M23 rebel insurgency. Observers had hoped these face-to-face talks would produce a breakthrough. Instead, the latest setback suggests that efforts to quell the nearly three-year conflict in eastern Congo continue to falter, leaving more than 1.9 […]