This all-day conference brought together leading scholars from around the world to examine security and governance challenges in the Maghreb-Sahel, many of them concentrated along national boundaries. The permeability of borders, along with political vacuums and economic marginalization in the hinterlands, has transformed border communities into epicenters of identity-driven politics, militancy, violent conflict, and organized transnational crime.
This event was co-hosted with the African Peacebuilding Network of the Social Science Research Council and the National Endowment for Democracy.
Agenda
8:30 a.m.
Registration
9:00 to 9:15 a.m.
Opening Remarks
- Michele Dunne, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Cyril Obi, Social Science Research Council
9:15 to 10:45 a.m.
Insecurity in Border Areas in Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria
- Amy Hawthorne, Project on Middle East Democracy
- Dalia Ghanem-Yazbeck, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Rebecca Murray, Freelance journalist and researcher
- Moderator: Samba Tall, The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali
11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Evolution of Security Threats in Mali, Mauritania and Nigeria
- Anouar Boukhars, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Boubacar N’Diaye, The College of Wooster
- Gbemisola Animasawun, University of Ilorin
- Moderator: Ismail Rashid,Vassar College
12:30 to 1:00 p.m.
Lunch
1:00 to 1:45 p.m.
Keynote Address
- John Desrocher, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Egypt and Maghreb Affairs
2:00 to 3:30 p.m.
Politics, Democracy, and Peacebuilding in the Sahel
- Kamissa Camara, The National Endowment for Democracy
- Muhammad Fraser-Rahim, United States Institute of Peace
- Cheri Baker, U.S. Department of State
- Charles Ukeje, Addis Ababa University
- Moderator: Cyril Obi, Social Science Research Council
