No Pillar of Stability: Mauritania’s Trajectory and the Pitfalls of European Cooperation
Megatrends Policy Brief 38, 13.05.2025, 11 Seitendoi: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
Literaturempfehlung
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Mauritania’s Balancing Act amid Intensifying Algerian-Moroccan Rivalry
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.
Megatrends spotlight 49, 07.04.2025 -
Fulani Responses to Pastoralist Crisis and Mass Violence
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.
Megatrends Policy Brief 32, 11.02.2025, 10 Seitendoi:DOI 10.18449/2025MTA-PB32
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Women in Peace Talks: Lessons Learned from Mali
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.
Megatrends Policy Brief 23, 22.02.2024, 6 Seitendoi:10.18449/2024MTA-PB23