Упрощенная HTML-версия
Author : D. Malysheva
Chief research fellow, Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Science
(Political Science)
UNTIL RECENTLY, the African countries north
of the equator and south of the Sahara and their
problems remained, on the whole, at the periphery
of not only Russian but also the world's information
and political field.
Everything changed on April 17, 2014 when Boko
Haram fighters abducted 276 schoolgirls aged 12 to
17 from the school in Chibok and threatened to sell
them into slavery.
The Nigerian drama has awoken the world commu-
nity to the grave and worsening situation in Africa (in Nigeria, Mali and Libya in the first place):
the level of violence has risen under pressure of radical Islamist trends while transnational ter-
rorism and its bases are spreading across the continent together with drug abuse.
This is unfolding against the background of huge and widening scope of conflicts on the con-
tinent, the fact which cannot but cause concerns.
Sub-Saharan Islamist and transnational terrorist groups, which recently have been demonstrating
more activity, represent a global security threat.
In recent years, an external factor has been playing a great role in African conflicts. This is true,
first and foremost, of political imbalance in the Middle East created by the so-called Arab Spring.
It should be said that Colonel Qaddafi left a noticeable and ambiguous trace in the life of the
Sahel countries and on the continent as a whole.
POLITICAL DESTRUCTION accompanied by disintegration of the traditions in all spheres
is especially obvious in Nigeria, a country with 177 million-strong population, vast territory and
considerable political and economic weight in the region.
No wonder, the number of people ready to fight in a conflict of a new type unfolding in Nigeria
is steadily increasing.
On the whole, the rapidly worsening situation is pushing the country toward a civil war.
The local extremist religious movements and groups are connected with transnational terrorism
(al-Qaeda); they rely on the methods and means of struggle previously unknown in Africa yet
tested and perfected in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Syria (suicide bombers, in the first place).
This means that the center of global terrorism is shifting toward Africa, at least partially: a dan-
gerous trend because the terrorist organizations operating in Africa have allied to act together.
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Islamism: The True Face of Armed Conflicts in Africa