The World’s Poorest Continent Spent an Extra $50 Billion on Weapons Last Year
Originally published on April 16, 2015. Good news, world military spending declined last year. According to several new reports published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, global military spending decreased by 0.4 percent in 2014. Unfortunately, that decrease is due to America’s military spending cuts. Excluding the United... Read more
Nigeria’s Terrorist Threats Are Bigger Than Boko Haram
If you heard about Nigeria in recent years, chances are that it was in the context of the Boko Haram insurgency that has plunged the northeastern part of the country into mayhem. The Council on Foreign Relations estimates that at least 19,807 people have died in the war. “Boko... Read more
Africa’s New Age of Combat Air Power
Combat aircraft  —  modern multi-role and light attack aircraft and helicopter gunships  —  are quickly becoming the favorite new toys of militaries across Africa. For strategists and governments alike, air power holds a lot promise, both in terms of fighting internal rebellions and projecting power abroad. Historically, sophisticated aircraft... Read more
Burkina Faso’s Coup Leader Likes to Party Like It’s 1987
Twenty-eight years ago, Gen. Gilbert Diendéré was involved in a coup d’etat that overthrew Burkina Faso’s revolutionary president Thomas Sankara, also known as “Africa’s Ché Guevara.” Diendéré’s soldiers stormed a cabinet meeting on the orders of Sankara’s successor, Blaise Compaoré, and shot the charismatic president to death. Now, let’s fast forward... Read more
Al Shabab Refines Militant Tactics as Dozens of Peacekeepers Die
In the early morning hours of Sept. 1, 2015, an Al Shabab suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into an African Union peacekeeping fort near Janale, about 50 miles southwest of Mogadishu. The blast blew open a hole. Within moments, dozens of Al Shabab fighters poured through the gap and overran the... Read more
Who Killed Central Africa’s Most Notorious Spy?
The assassins, dressed in camouflage and riding in a military vehicle, closed in on their target. Lt. Gen. Adolphe Nshimirimana, Burundi’s top spy and one of the most feared men in Central and East Africa, knew he had a lot of enemies. On the day of his murder, Adolphe... Read more
French and U.N. Troops Are Losing the Battle to Save Mali
Imagine your country is a beacon of democracy, when suddenly, it’s overrun by angry rebels and hardcore jihadists. To add insult to injury, elements of the army — after losing control of half the country — stage a haphazard coup and throw your president out of power barely months... Read more
Rwanda’s Dissident Murder Machine
Opposing the Rwandan government could cost you your life, a report by the Canada Border Services Agency confirms. The report, which was disclosed in federal court documents and is partly based on information from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, describes a “a well-documented pattern of repression of Rwandan government critics, both inside... Read more
How 1,500 Elite Soldiers Hijacked a Country
A shadowy menace haunts the West African nation of Burkina Faso. The country’s hated and feared Regiment of Presidential Security–a praetorian guard-like military force–works behind the scenes, and the interim government cowers whenever this branch of the military threatens a coup d’etat. The soldiers have killed regime critics and... Read more
Burundi’s Crisis Could Escalate Into Civil War
Burundi’s government says that it has apprehended more than 100 people and killed at least 30 armed men during two days of fighting. The rebels confirmed the clashes in principle, although they painted a different picture of their outcome. The conflict is escalating in the wake of contentious parliamentary... Read more

Peter Dörrie

Africa Correspondent

Journalist specialising in security politics on the African continent.