Africa Defense Forum
ADF is a professional military magazine published quarterly by U.S. Africa Command to provide an international forum for African security professionals. ADF covers topics such as counter terrorism strategies, security and defense operations, transnational crime, and all other issues affecting peace, stability, and good governance on the African continent.

Reforming a Radical

Programs to Deradicalize Extremists Are Necessary and Imperfect The idealized version of deradicalization is that it happens in an instant. A dedicated jihadist sees the light and chooses to walk away. In this version, he becomes horrified…

Tunisian Group Wins Nobel Peace Prize

REUTERS Tunisia’s National Dialogue Quartet won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015 for helping to build democracy in the birthplace of the Arab Spring. The nation is held up as an example of a peaceful transition in a region otherwise…

ISIS Taps Into Teen Isolation

The extremist group skillfully uses the Internet and social network tools to attract people living on the margins of society. ADF STAFF It’s happening almost all over the world: Teenagers are lying to their parents, secretly saving up…

Tunisia at a Crossroads

Tunisia was the birthplace of the Arab Spring and has long been held up as a model of stability and pluralism in volatile North Africa. But in 2015, a series of attacks sent shockwaves around the world. On March 18, 2015, three gunmen shot…

Veteran Peacemaker Takes on New Challenge

A Conversation with Ambassador Francisco Madeira, head of the African Union Mission in Somalia ADF STAFF Photos by AMISOM Ambassador Francisco Madeira took over in December 2015 as the African Union’s special representative for Somalia…

Why do they Join?

Understanding Islamist Radicalization and Recruitment in Africa His name was Seifeddine Rezqui, a 23-year-old engineering student from the rather ordinary town of Gaafour, 50 miles from Tunisia’s capital, Tunis. He had a passion for…

Africa Part of ISIS’ Global Strategy

The Continent Is at the Center of a Three-Pronged Quest for Worldwide Jihad ISIS is advancing its plans for a worldwide caliphate on three simultaneous fronts. Imagine, says Harleen Gambhir, a counterterrorism analyst at the Institute for…