doi:10.18449/2025MTA-PB38
Mauritania’s importance as a partner for Europe is growing. Increased resources and foreign support could either help the ruling elite to consolidate power or worsen social fragilities. European migration and security policies risk adding to tensions.
Social fragility and a possible consolidation of power by the ruling elite will determine the future of Mauritania - including the future of this child riding a bicycle in Chinguetti, Mauritania, on February 4, 2025.
© picture alliance / ASSOCIATED PRESS | Khaled Moulay
Algeria and Morocco are increasingly jostling for Mauritania’s favour. Observers watch for any sign that Mauritania might abandon its neutral stance. The rivalry plays out as much through propaganda as it does in reality – with potentially destabilising effects.
Fulani communities in West Africa are being scapegoated for violence perpetrated by certain groups of semi-nomadic herders in response to a crisis in pastoralism. James Courtright explores how Fulani communities across the region are responding by organising, fighting or fleeing.
doi:DOI 10.18449/2025MTA-PB32
The integration of women leaders into Mali’s peace process between 2020 and 2022 was superficial, belated, and steeped in controversy. But it was a rare case in which women war-makers and mediators could influence high-level peace talks. Today, the Malian experience yields important lessons for mediators and policymakers.
doi:10.18449/2024MTA-PB23