ADF

CLUES This rare major inland delta system does not flow into an ocean or sea. The site has about 600,000 hectares of permanent swamps and about 1.2 million hectares of seasonally flooded grassland. Wildlife here has adapted its growth and reproductive behavior to the arrival of floodwater during the dry winters. It is home to several endangered species, including the African wild dog, cheetah, lion, black rhinoceros and white rhinoceros. ANSWER: The Okavango Delta, Botswana

Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Sani, chief of transformation and innovation for the Nigerian Army, said his country is countering the threat of Boko Haram and other asymmetric threats by “thinking outside the box.” The military is taking the fight to what he calls “dark networks” of terrorists with a combination of technology, improved training and a newly created Nigerian Army Special Operations Command (NASOC). Speaking to ADF in February 2015 at the Global Special Operations Forces Foundation conference in St. Petersburg, Florida, Sani said his job is to look for innovative solutions to emerging threats. “I look at administration, I look…

BENJAMIN AWUVAFOGE/KOFI ANNAN INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING TRAINING CENTRE The understanding of security often is limited to armed conflict or violent situations. Hence, most governments’ security planning is focused on the military and police to the exclusion of important sectors such as health and sanitation. This narrow conception of security has complicated the fight against disease in Africa. According to scholar Mohammed Ayoob, security is defined in relation to internal and external vulnerabilities that can significantly weaken territorial and institutional state structures and regimes. That means anything that poses a threat to the survival and life of an individual is a security issue.…

Interstate conflicts have become relatively rare. Militaries today are not often asked to defend national borders from an invading army. The threats of the 21st century in Africa and around the world come mainly from extremist groups, rebels, separatist movements and other bands of fighters. These groups know they cannot face down a national military in a head-to-head battle. They also know that the majority of the civilian population is not on their side. So, instead of standard warfare, they look to gain an asymmetric advantage. Asymmetric warfare occurs when a smaller fighting force adopts unconventional tactics and strategies to…

In November 2014, a horrific attack was carried out against a mosque in Kano in northern Nigeria, killing more than 100 innocent civilians. It bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram. In northern Kenya, al-Shabaab carried out two horrendous attacks. On December 2, elements of the group descended upon a quarry near the town of Mandera, beheading and shooting 36 workers. A week before that, and in the same area, the group killed 28 travelers after forcing their bus off the road. In Mali, terrorist groups continue to ambush and kill peacekeepers. Since the United Nations first deployed in July 2013,…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Mozambique, once one of the most heavily land-mined countries in the world, is declaring itself free of the deadly scourge. In 1992, as it emerged from 16 years of civil war, Mozambique was considered — along with Angola, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Cambodia — one of the five most heavily mined nations on Earth. Now, no later than early 2015, Mozambique will be the first of the five to be declared “impact-free.” Minefields were the deadly legacy of the bloodshed that killed a million people in fighting between the Frelimo liberation movement and anti-communist Renamo rebels. The…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Namibia’s outgoing president has won the Mo Ibrahim Prize for good governance in Africa, the world’s richest award that has seen a dearth of worthy candidates. Hifikepunye Pohamba, 79, is only the fourth winner of the $5 million annual prize, launched in 2007 to encourage and reward good governance across the continent. Although elections are now the rule in Africa, many leaders try to push through constitutional changes to stay in power, sometimes well into old age, while others die in office or are forced to flee. Pohamba was honored by choosing a different path. “President Pohamba’s focus…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Since its inception five years ago, LagosPhoto has become one of the biggest photography festivals in Africa. The annual event tries to reflect life on the continent through the eyes of Africans, rather than just photographers from elsewhere. In 2014, organizers turned to fantasy and fiction to encourage artists to go beyond showing the realities of daily life and worries about basic necessities. “The aim is to give Africa, Nigeria, Lagos — the city [and] its people — a voice,” said founder Azu Nwagbogu. “We want people to be able to tell their stories.” Photos on vast canvasses…

IEDs Become the Weapon of Choice in Asymmetric Warfare On Sunday, December 28, 2014, a sugar cane seller in Potiskum, Nigeria, died when she stepped on a bomb in a school football field. She was 12 years old. The bomb was planted Sunday to be triggered the next day when the field would be crowded with children. Instead, the girl stepped on it early in the evening, when she was one of the only people on the field. A few months earlier, a suicide bomber in Nigeria’s Yobe state rode a motorized rickshaw to an outdoor venue, where people watched…

Extremist groups seek CBRN weapons, but what is the likelihood of an attack? ALEXANDER DETERT/ALUMNUS OF THE GEORGE C. MARSHALL EUROPEAN CENTER FOR SECURITY STUDIES Instability in the wake of the Arab Spring and a new crop of aggressive terrorist organizations, including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), have prompted some to announce that we are entering a new era of extremism. This means it is necessary to look at old threats from new angles, such as the use of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) weapons by terrorist organizations. Has extremism changed to a degree that contemporary terrorist…