Stephanie Burchard
@smburchard.bsky.social
Covered in toddlers at the moment (probably), otherwise occupied by questions about elections, violence, security, WPS, and Africa. Adjunct prof at GWU.
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
While the putsch was unsuccessful, a recent attempted coup shows that no West African country—even one as stable as Benin—is immune to a military takeover.
A Thwarted Coup in Benin Underscores Cascading Crises in West Africa
While the putsch was unsuccessful, it shows that no West African country—even one as stable as Benin—is immune to a military takeover.
www.worldpoliticsreview.com
January 9, 2026 at 9:00 PM
While the putsch was unsuccessful, a recent attempted coup shows that no West African country—even one as stable as Benin—is immune to a military takeover.
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
The share of South Africans who identify more strongly with their nationality than their ethnic group has dropped from 70% in 2011 to 16%.
Head over to our website to read more: bit.ly/4snVn4p
#VoicesAfrica #SouthAfrica #Ethnicity
Head over to our website to read more: bit.ly/4snVn4p
#VoicesAfrica #SouthAfrica #Ethnicity
January 6, 2026 at 9:40 AM
The share of South Africans who identify more strongly with their nationality than their ethnic group has dropped from 70% in 2011 to 16%.
Head over to our website to read more: bit.ly/4snVn4p
#VoicesAfrica #SouthAfrica #Ethnicity
Head over to our website to read more: bit.ly/4snVn4p
#VoicesAfrica #SouthAfrica #Ethnicity
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
Uganda’s upcoming January 15 vote is a “senseless election”. President Museveni's efforts to ensure an electoral victory will almost certainly be successful, but will only exacerbate simmering resentment. Museveni has been in power for 40 years now.
A Senseless Election
Museveni's efforts to ensure an electoral victory will almost certainly be successful, but will only exacerbate simmering resentment.
on.cfr.org
January 6, 2026 at 8:06 PM
Uganda’s upcoming January 15 vote is a “senseless election”. President Museveni's efforts to ensure an electoral victory will almost certainly be successful, but will only exacerbate simmering resentment. Museveni has been in power for 40 years now.
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
In some northern Nigerian communities though, they are negotiating peace with the bandits:
bsky.app/profile/ryan...
bsky.app/profile/ryan...
In Nigeria’s northwest, where communities have been at the mercy of bandits and have been severely affected by mass kidnappings, these communities have been striking peace deals with bandits in exchange for access to mines
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Nigeria's kidnapping crisis: 'Too scared to speak' - villagers on living in the midst of bandits
Parents of kidnapped children know where the bandits hide out, but are too scared to inform the authorities.
www.bbc.com
January 2, 2026 at 3:33 PM
In some northern Nigerian communities though, they are negotiating peace with the bandits:
bsky.app/profile/ryan...
bsky.app/profile/ryan...
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
“Both governments said in separate statements on Tuesday that they were acting “in accordance with the principle of reciprocity,” and would apply the same restrictions on Americans that were imposed on their countries.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/w...
Mali and Burkina Faso Impose Travel Bans on Americans
www.nytimes.com
January 1, 2026 at 1:11 PM
“Both governments said in separate statements on Tuesday that they were acting “in accordance with the principle of reciprocity,” and would apply the same restrictions on Americans that were imposed on their countries.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/w...
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
Why do women participate less in politics in Nigeria?
Claire Adida presented evidence on practical interventions that help close the gap and support women’s civic engagement. https://ow.ly/pTg350XEqWR
Claire Adida presented evidence on practical interventions that help close the gap and support women’s civic engagement. https://ow.ly/pTg350XEqWR
Overcoming Barriers to Women’s Political Participation: Evidence from
ow.ly
December 30, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Why do women participate less in politics in Nigeria?
Claire Adida presented evidence on practical interventions that help close the gap and support women’s civic engagement. https://ow.ly/pTg350XEqWR
Claire Adida presented evidence on practical interventions that help close the gap and support women’s civic engagement. https://ow.ly/pTg350XEqWR
sent you a gift link. can also download if you want but lazy and kids climbing on me :)
December 31, 2025 at 4:45 PM
sent you a gift link. can also download if you want but lazy and kids climbing on me :)
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
Israel’s decision to recognize the breakaway republic of Somaliland has the potential to further destabilize Somalia, a country that is already at risk of coming apart at the seams, @lesleyannewarner.bsky.social writes.
Israel’s Recognition of Somaliland Will Reverberate Beyond the Horn of Africa
Israel’s controversial decision to recognize the breakaway republic could trigger a global succession of secessions.
www.worldpoliticsreview.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Israel’s decision to recognize the breakaway republic of Somaliland has the potential to further destabilize Somalia, a country that is already at risk of coming apart at the seams, @lesleyannewarner.bsky.social writes.
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
A falling out between Senegal’s president and prime minister—once close allies—threatens to metastasize into a broader governance crisis.
A Power Struggle at the Top Threatens Senegal’s Governance and Growth
A bitter falling-out between the prime minister and president is damaging Senegal’s position as an island of stability in West Africa.
www.worldpoliticsreview.com
December 24, 2025 at 1:00 AM
A falling out between Senegal’s president and prime minister—once close allies—threatens to metastasize into a broader governance crisis.
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
“Criminal syndicates are recruiting Africans to help Russia replenish its army… [after] years of war in Ukraine. Hundreds of Kenyans, many with no military training, have been lured to Russia with false promises of jobs…to find themselves deployed in the fighting”
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Russia’s War Ensnares Unwitting African Recruits
Welcome to Next Africa, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it’s headed. Sign up here to have it delivered to your email.
www.bloomberg.com
December 23, 2025 at 1:13 PM
“Criminal syndicates are recruiting Africans to help Russia replenish its army… [after] years of war in Ukraine. Hundreds of Kenyans, many with no military training, have been lured to Russia with false promises of jobs…to find themselves deployed in the fighting”
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
New @crisisgroup.org report: The M23 Offensive
Despite signing peace deals in Washington and Doha, the Congolese army, M23 rebels and Rwandan troops continue to trade fire, with the insurgents and invading soldiers taking more territory as 2025 draws to a close.
www.crisisgroup.org/africa/democ...
Despite signing peace deals in Washington and Doha, the Congolese army, M23 rebels and Rwandan troops continue to trade fire, with the insurgents and invading soldiers taking more territory as 2025 draws to a close.
www.crisisgroup.org/africa/democ...
The M23 Offensive: Elusive Peace in the Great Lakes | International Crisis Group
Parallel peace talks between the Congolese government and Rwanda and the M23 rebels, respectively, have yielded welcome agreements. But as these negotiations have proceeded, the battles in the eastern...
www.crisisgroup.org
December 19, 2025 at 5:34 PM
New @crisisgroup.org report: The M23 Offensive
Despite signing peace deals in Washington and Doha, the Congolese army, M23 rebels and Rwandan troops continue to trade fire, with the insurgents and invading soldiers taking more territory as 2025 draws to a close.
www.crisisgroup.org/africa/democ...
Despite signing peace deals in Washington and Doha, the Congolese army, M23 rebels and Rwandan troops continue to trade fire, with the insurgents and invading soldiers taking more territory as 2025 draws to a close.
www.crisisgroup.org/africa/democ...
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
Book Review:
The Second Emancipation: Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Global Blackness at High Tide, by @hofrench.bsky.social >> www.africanistperspective.com/p/book-revie...
The Second Emancipation: Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Global Blackness at High Tide, by @hofrench.bsky.social >> www.africanistperspective.com/p/book-revie...
Book Review (12/25): The Second Emancipation
Explorations in African leadership
www.africanistperspective.com
December 20, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Book Review:
The Second Emancipation: Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Global Blackness at High Tide, by @hofrench.bsky.social >> www.africanistperspective.com/p/book-revie...
The Second Emancipation: Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Global Blackness at High Tide, by @hofrench.bsky.social >> www.africanistperspective.com/p/book-revie...
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
Ten African Security Trends from 2025 in Graphics africacenter.org/spotlight/20...
Ten African Security Trends from 2025 in Graphics
Africa experienced growing regionalization of conflicts, militant Islamist group offensives, military coups, and external actor rivalries.
africacenter.org
December 18, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Ten African Security Trends from 2025 in Graphics africacenter.org/spotlight/20...
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
Monstrous. CDC is going to fund knowingly giving thousands of infants in Africa a placebo instead of a proven vaccine. Issued non-competitively to a foreign research org without ethics review.
December 17, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Monstrous. CDC is going to fund knowingly giving thousands of infants in Africa a placebo instead of a proven vaccine. Issued non-competitively to a foreign research org without ethics review.
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
A coup in Guinea-Bissau and an attempted coup in Benin, both countries that have been democratically backsliding.
Coup leaders claim they’re defending democracy, not upending it.
My latest, in @goodauth.bsky.social:
goodauthority.org/news/guinea-...
Coup leaders claim they’re defending democracy, not upending it.
My latest, in @goodauth.bsky.social:
goodauthority.org/news/guinea-...
Guinea-Bissau and Benin coup moves reflect democratic disappointment
Coup leaders claim they’re defending democracy, not upending it.
goodauthority.org
December 15, 2025 at 4:52 PM
A coup in Guinea-Bissau and an attempted coup in Benin, both countries that have been democratically backsliding.
Coup leaders claim they’re defending democracy, not upending it.
My latest, in @goodauth.bsky.social:
goodauthority.org/news/guinea-...
Coup leaders claim they’re defending democracy, not upending it.
My latest, in @goodauth.bsky.social:
goodauthority.org/news/guinea-...
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
The failed coup in Benin last week illustrated something spectacular and unprecedented: ECOWAS’s firmest and most successful stance against an unconstitutional power grab in years.
www.crisisgroup.org/africa/benin...
www.crisisgroup.org/africa/benin...
A Foiled Coup in Benin, and a Win for ECOWAS and Nigeria | International Crisis Group
Crisis Group expert Nnamdi Obasi reflects on the winners and losers coming out of the 7 December coup attempt in Benin
www.crisisgroup.org
December 15, 2025 at 2:48 PM
The failed coup in Benin last week illustrated something spectacular and unprecedented: ECOWAS’s firmest and most successful stance against an unconstitutional power grab in years.
www.crisisgroup.org/africa/benin...
www.crisisgroup.org/africa/benin...
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
NEW: One of the most significant accomplishments of the Trump Admin: Decimating the US's humanitarian aid.
We went to S. Sudan to see the effects.
Rubio says no one has died from the cuts.
Spoiler: That's not true.
@annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy:
www.propublica.org/article/usai...
We went to S. Sudan to see the effects.
Rubio says no one has died from the cuts.
Spoiler: That's not true.
@annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy:
www.propublica.org/article/usai...
Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.
Behind closed doors in Washington, top advisers made a series of decisions that had devastating repercussions for the poorest country on earth. We went to South Sudan and found people who died as a re...
www.propublica.org
December 15, 2025 at 12:10 PM
NEW: One of the most significant accomplishments of the Trump Admin: Decimating the US's humanitarian aid.
We went to S. Sudan to see the effects.
Rubio says no one has died from the cuts.
Spoiler: That's not true.
@annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy:
www.propublica.org/article/usai...
We went to S. Sudan to see the effects.
Rubio says no one has died from the cuts.
Spoiler: That's not true.
@annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy:
www.propublica.org/article/usai...
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
NEW ANALYST’S NOTEBOOK | | A Foiled Coup in Benin, and a Win for ECOWAS and Nigeria
Nnamdi Obasi reflects on the winners and losers coming out of the 7 December coup attempt in Benin
www.crisisgroup.org/africa/benin...
Nnamdi Obasi reflects on the winners and losers coming out of the 7 December coup attempt in Benin
www.crisisgroup.org/africa/benin...
A Foiled Coup in Benin, and a Win for ECOWAS and Nigeria | International Crisis Group
Crisis Group expert Nnamdi Obasi reflects on the winners and losers coming out of the 7 December coup attempt in Benin
www.crisisgroup.org
December 12, 2025 at 5:35 PM
NEW ANALYST’S NOTEBOOK | | A Foiled Coup in Benin, and a Win for ECOWAS and Nigeria
Nnamdi Obasi reflects on the winners and losers coming out of the 7 December coup attempt in Benin
www.crisisgroup.org/africa/benin...
Nnamdi Obasi reflects on the winners and losers coming out of the 7 December coup attempt in Benin
www.crisisgroup.org/africa/benin...
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
A new criminal complaint in France alleges that TotalEnergies has been complicit in abuses committed by the Mozambican military.
TotalEnergies Wanted to Build Africa’s Largest Energy Project. Now It’s Accused of War Crimes
A new criminal complaint in France alleges that TotalEnergies has been complicit in abuses committed by the Mozambican military.
www.worldpoliticsreview.com
December 12, 2025 at 4:00 PM
A new criminal complaint in France alleges that TotalEnergies has been complicit in abuses committed by the Mozambican military.
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
💰 Kidnapping for ransom in the Sahel grew from a rebel tactic in 1979 to a booming industry, shaping regional conflict.
theconversation.com/kidnapping-f...
#Politics
theconversation.com/kidnapping-f...
#Politics
Kidnapping for ransom in the Sahel: analysis of 24 years of data shows a new trend
The kidnapping industry fuels insurgencies in Africa’s Sahel region.
theconversation.com
December 11, 2025 at 6:56 PM
💰 Kidnapping for ransom in the Sahel grew from a rebel tactic in 1979 to a booming industry, shaping regional conflict.
theconversation.com/kidnapping-f...
#Politics
theconversation.com/kidnapping-f...
#Politics
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
I wrote about the violence reaching the capital of Mali @goodauth.bsky.social
- Peacebuilding failed
- This doesn’t mean all interventions are doomed, just under some conditions (even in Mali!)
- Not too late for international community to think creatively about helping civilians in Mali
- Peacebuilding failed
- This doesn’t mean all interventions are doomed, just under some conditions (even in Mali!)
- Not too late for international community to think creatively about helping civilians in Mali
December 10, 2025 at 6:08 PM
I wrote about the violence reaching the capital of Mali @goodauth.bsky.social
- Peacebuilding failed
- This doesn’t mean all interventions are doomed, just under some conditions (even in Mali!)
- Not too late for international community to think creatively about helping civilians in Mali
- Peacebuilding failed
- This doesn’t mean all interventions are doomed, just under some conditions (even in Mali!)
- Not too late for international community to think creatively about helping civilians in Mali
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
📌 #Djibouti’s constitutional change isn’t a technicality. It enables another #Guelleh term in a state central to #global #shipping and hosting numerous foreign bases.
Democratic #backsliding here has real #geopolitical #costs
My latest @theconversation.com 👇
theconversation.com/djiboutis-de...
Democratic #backsliding here has real #geopolitical #costs
My latest @theconversation.com 👇
theconversation.com/djiboutis-de...
Djibouti’s democracy takes another knock as ageing president engineers yet another term
Djibouti is a presidential republic with a multiparty system, but political authority is highly centralised.
theconversation.com
December 11, 2025 at 7:49 AM
📌 #Djibouti’s constitutional change isn’t a technicality. It enables another #Guelleh term in a state central to #global #shipping and hosting numerous foreign bases.
Democratic #backsliding here has real #geopolitical #costs
My latest @theconversation.com 👇
theconversation.com/djiboutis-de...
Democratic #backsliding here has real #geopolitical #costs
My latest @theconversation.com 👇
theconversation.com/djiboutis-de...
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
A religious war? Jihadist attacks on Christians in Mozambique - @emorier.bsky.social sets out clearly why talk of religious war is wrongheaded and dangerous www.hoover.org/research/rel...
A religious war? Jihadist attacks on Christians in Mozambique
Christians are being killed in northern Mozambique. A jihadi insurgency that began in 2017 conducts regular attacks against the state and its population. It has already killed thousands of Mozambicans...
www.hoover.org
December 10, 2025 at 8:53 PM
A religious war? Jihadist attacks on Christians in Mozambique - @emorier.bsky.social sets out clearly why talk of religious war is wrongheaded and dangerous www.hoover.org/research/rel...
Reposted by Stephanie Burchard
⚠️As we celebrate #HumanRightsDay, #IIAG data shows that rights across the continent are increasingly under pressure. Much more is needed to turn commitments into reality.
Discover our data here: https://iiag.online/measures/pri.html
Discover our data here: https://iiag.online/measures/pri.html
December 10, 2025 at 7:13 PM
⚠️As we celebrate #HumanRightsDay, #IIAG data shows that rights across the continent are increasingly under pressure. Much more is needed to turn commitments into reality.
Discover our data here: https://iiag.online/measures/pri.html
Discover our data here: https://iiag.online/measures/pri.html