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Sahel Research Group

@ufsahelresearch.bsky.social
894 followers 274 following 1.4K posts

The Sahel Research Group at the University of Florida is no longer active on Bluesky. Please follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook, or visit our website sahelresearch.africa.ufl.edu

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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Dear friends of the Sahel, we are closing this account and invite you to follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
This new working paper suggests that the structural position occupied by checkpoints in transport networks shapes spatial variations of violence in West Africa www.diis.dk/en/research/...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Latest News Brief on the Sahel — Click here to read and subscribe! mailchi.mp/e18cd341be0b...
People and sheep on the move, Kaolack, Senegal
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
We wish everyone a happy Tabaski. Eid Mubarak!
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Why Niger Can Seize Uranium but Cannot Sell It www.fpri.org/article/2026...
fpri.org
Why Niger Can Seize Uranium but Cannot Sell It - Foreign Policy Research Institute
More than 1,000 metric tons of yellowcake uranium sit at Airbase 101 adjacent to Niamey’s international airport, loaded onto trucks that have not moved in
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Recently published - A pathway to food and nutritional security in the Sahel in the context of climate change: A One Health framework www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Latest News Brief on the Sahel — Please note that will we be publishing on a biweekly schedule for the summer. Look out for the next news brief on 29 May. mailchi.mp/c51052d2546b...
Street view, Nouakchott, Mauritania
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
West African states respond to insurgencies by building city walls and fortifying borders. While they provide short-term protection, these initiatives can also deepen rural insecurity and civilian vulnerability anl.geog.ufl.edu/fortified-la...
anl.geog.ufl.edu
The resurgence of fortified landscapes in West Africa
West African states respond to insurgencies by building city walls and fortifying borders, balancing protection with rural vulnerabilities.
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
For our last Sahel Seminar of the semester, Baba Adou and Olivier Walther led a discussion on the current tensions around borders and sovereignty between Mali and Mauritania
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Africa’s margins have become its main theatre of violence. Yet, borderlands are more than conflict spillover zones. They are strategic infrastructure, acting as connective tissue sustaining conflict systems that span countries and resist resolution for years africanarguments.org/2026/04/why-...
africanarguments.org
Why African Borderlands Keep Burning | African Arguments
Africa’s margins have become its main theatre of violence. From the Great Lakes region to the Sahel, armed groups exploit borderlands as safe havens and logistics hubs.
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
In Irregular Warfare Initiative, Steven Radil and Olivier Walther argue that conflict has memory, i.e. that yesterday’s situation constrains today’s options, making short-term stabilization harder over time irregularwarfare.org/articles/con...
irregularwarfare.org
Conflict Has Memory: Why Local Wars Follow Distinct Trajectories Why Local Wars Follow Distinct Trajectories: A New Framework.
Local violence is not just a sequence of incidents. Conflict has memory. Learn how analyzing distinct conflict trajectories can prevent strategic overreaction and improve irregular warfare planning.
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
NEW - Leonardo A Villalón reflects on 30 years of democratic work in Niger in "Democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2000-2025: A Political Historical Reassessment" edited by Corrado Tornimbeni and Timothy Scarnecchia boydellandbrewer.com/book/democra...
boydellandbrewer.com
Democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2000-2025
Is democracy surviving in Africa? Despite the continuance of multiparty elections, in the face of unmet expectations for greater freedom, social justice, and inclusive development, an increasing autho...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
What does Epstein's network in Africa look like? SRG Alex Orenstein reveals the extent of the connections between the American financier and certain African leaders, aimed at financing major port infrastructure projects and securing access to natural resources, in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, and Gabon
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
NEW - Circuits and movement in religious transnationalism: a Tijani community between Mbour, Fez and Mantes-la-Jolie, by SRG Abdoulaye Kane www.tandfonline.com/eprint/4FVDP...
tandfonline.com
Circuits and movement in religious transnationalism: a Tijani community between Mbour (Senegal), Fez (Morocco) and Mantes-la-Jolie (France)
This paper examines the transnational circuits of travel and pilgrimage created by a Senegalese Sufi religious leader on a mission to preserve the orthodox Muslim and Sufi identity of his co-ethnic...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
NEW DIIS Working Paper - Wars over checkpoints. Nine theses on the politics of roadblocks in conflict-affected borderlands, by Peer Schouten, SRG Olivier Walther and XCEPT team www.diis.dk/en/research/...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
NEW -Embodied Religiosity. Religious Practices among the Baye Fall, by Macodou Fall brill.com/view/journal...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Latest News Brief on the Sahel — Click on link to read and subscribe! mailchi.mp/83d49b74e8ef...
mailchi.mp
Sahel Research Group Weekly Newsletter 500
Political rally, St. Louis, Senegal (2014)
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Today, several members of the Sahel Research Group attended the workshop "Political Movements in North Africa and the Sahel" organized by the University of Florida Center for Global Islamic Studies and The Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Our colleagues from the SRG project on the impact of climate change in the Sahel are meeting in Dakar this week with their collaborators in the region from Senegal, Mauritania, Niger, and Chad.
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
The expansion of JNIM has brought about major changes in the lives of Fulani women in the Sahel. Today, we have the opportunity to discuss this fascinating topic with Corinne Dufka
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
For the first Sahel seminar of 2026, Baba Adou and Mohammed Sanda led a discussion on Imam Dicko and the challenges in finding a religious comprise in Mali
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Happy to see our colleagues Farès Davion interviewed in this blog discussing the future of the AES military force horontv.net/force-unifie...
horontv.net
Force unifiée de l’AES : une armée commune, un pari commun
Sous le ciel clair, la solennité de l’instant contraste avec la dureté persistante du contexte sécuritaire sahélien. Sur le tarmac,
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Should the Sahel Research Group stay on Bluesky? Yes? No? Whatever? Is there still anybody interested in the West African Sahel out there?
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Latest News Brief on the Sahel — Click on link to read and subscribe! mailchi.mp/862aab424d1d...
Fishing pirogues, Guet Ndar, St. Louis du Senegal
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
NEW - Towards praetorian-led electoral authoritarianism? Examining the post-coup transitions in francophone Africa, by Dr. Sebastian Elischer www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
What would we be without our amazing doctoral students and recently minted PhDs?
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
We are delighted to announce that Corinne Dufka, lead author of the XCEPT report "Peuhl women’s lives under JNIM in the Central Sahel", will discuss her work with us at the Sahel Seminar on 30 January in Gainesville.
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Kidnapping for ransom fuels the expansion of jihadist groups in the Sahel, argue our colleagues Alexander Laskaris and Olivier Walther in @africa.theconversation.com theconversation.com/kidnapping-f...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
"West Africa’s transport infrastructure has become a target and a weapon", write Steve Radil, Olivier Walther and Alex Thurston in Africa Defense Forum this week adf-magazine.com/2025/12/west...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
The emphasis placed on external actors in the Malian crisis has contributed to underestimating the role played by successive Malian governments in the deterioration of the security situation, argue Alexander Laskaris and Olivier Walther in @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2025/12/03/m...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
More efforts should be dedicated to tracking intra-regional trade in agricultural products and livestock in West Africa, explain Lacey Harris-Coble and Olivier Walther during today’s Sahel Seminar theconversation.com/west-africas...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
This Friday at 3:30pm, Visiting Scholar Alex Laskaris will speak on the success of autocracy in Africa, reflecting both on his tenure as the US Ambassador to Chad and the work he has been doing at the University of Florida internationalcenter.ufl.edu/baraza-chad-...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
From High and Dry to Low and Wet: The Political Ecology of Urban Flooding in Nouakchott, by @corysatter.bsky.social satter.substack.com/p/from-high-...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Latest News Brief on the Sahel — Click on link to read and subscribe! mailchi.mp/90988f84fcb7...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Our own @babaadou.bsky.social discusses the recent blockade of Bamako with TV5 Monde information.tv5monde.com/afrique/asph...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
TODAY at 11:45am - Andrew Lebovich will give a talk entitled "Things fall apart: exchanges, observations and perspectives on revolution between Algerian and West African Reformist Muslims" as part of a workshop organized by the UF Center for Global Islamic Studies calendar.ufl.edu/clas_african...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Bamako is under siege after more than 10 years of civil war. The Sahel Research Group and Alex Thurston discuss whether the Jihadist blockade could lead to the fall of the Malian capital in The Conversation theconversation.com/jihadists-ha...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Burkina Faso Dissolves National Electoral Commission — Read more here and check out our past news briefs on the Sahel: mailchi.mp/3366fa81b26a...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever across Mauritania and Senegal — Read more in our latest news brief: mailchi.mp/f70fab52ba47...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Why West Africa needs better trade data - Our latest blog in @theconversation.com theconversation.com/west-africas...
theconversation.com
West Africa’s trade monitoring system has collapsed - why this is dangerous for food security
Good data is essential for mapping trade networks
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Leonardo Villalon recently gave an insightful presentation on "Resilience and Vulnerability to Climate Change in the Countries of the African Sahel" at the Universidad Tecnológica del Chocó, in the city of Quibdo, Columbia.
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Just out - Mapping the intersection of violence and food insecurity in West Africa, by SRG Olivier Walther and Jennifer Sheahan mapping-africa-transformations.org/mapping-the-...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Upcoming Sahel Seminar with Professor Gregory Mann, Columbia University, September 19, 11:45 AM–12:45 PM, in Rolfs Hall 109, sahelresearch.africa.ufl.edu/events-activ...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Discussing the emergence and future of the Alliance of Sahel States with @fdavion.bsky.social Thanks for attending our Sahel Seminar!
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
The Sahel Research Group is happy to welcome our new Visitor Scholar, Ambassador Alexander Laskaris, Farès Davion who will be serving as our new Graduate Assistant, and Mohammed Sanda who starts a PhD in Geography!
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Victoria Simoni presented MINERVA findings on food security and diet this morning to an International audience in Paris at ICN. Great job representing UF and SRG, Victoria!
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
We dedicate this week's newsletter to the memory of our friend and colleague Professor Abdou Salam Fall (d. 15 August 2025). Please see end of newsletter for more tributes to the life and work of Prof. Fall. mailchi.mp/26f4fbe903ac...
Professor Abdou Salam Fall
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Violence is not fueled by a lack of food in West Africa, according to recent work by SRG Olivier Walther and Rafael Prieto-Curiel. The lack of seasonality in West African conflicts suggests that the story of hunger is one of political power anl.geog.ufl.edu/conflict-sea...
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
JOB - 3-year Postdoctoral position with Dr. Vincent Foucher at Science Po Bordeaux: "Governing jihad in Africa: uses and regulations of jihadist and counter-insurgency violence" drive.google.com/file/d/1oLPb... Apply before September 15!
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Sahel Research Group @ufsahelresearch.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
In West Africa, regions subject to food insecurity are not only prone to more violence, but conflict is more concentrated spatially than in other regions anl.geog.ufl.edu/food-insecur...
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