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Of Walls and Men: Securing African Borders in the 21st Century

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African borders are well-known for their porosity. Although they are crucial economic interfaces, they also crystallize political and security tensions, in both inter-state wars and intra-state conflicts involving rebels or autonomist groups. 

Corps analyses
The continent’s internal borders can also be exploited as a resource fueling these confrontations through trafficking, contraband, and corruption but also because they may offer the protection of a diplomatic sanctuary. To deal with these issues, the African defense and security forces need to engage in various strategies aimed at securing these areas. In order to do so, they tend to resort to two major types of mechanisms. On the one hand, the « walls » and other static devices which can rely on rather traditional means or use new innovative technologies. On the other hand, the security forces, which have to increase their mobility and be able to cooperate both on a national and international level in order to guarantee their efficiency.
 
 

 

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978-2-36567-948-0

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Of Walls and Men: Securing African Borders in the 21st Century

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 A soldier watching a sunset on an armored infantry fighting vehicle
Security Studies Center
Accroche centre

Heir to a tradition dating back to the founding of Ifri, the Security Studies Center provides public and private decision-makers as well as the general public with the keys to understanding power relations and contemporary modes of conflict as well as those to come. Through its positioning at the juncture of politics and operations, the credibility of its civil-military team and the wide distribution of its publications in French and English, the Center for Security Studies constitutes in the French landscape of think tanks a unique center of research and influence on the national and international defense debate.

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Accroche

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Date de publication
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Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has flung Europe’s Eastern flank into a new phase of strategic confrontation. It has had a major effect on France’s position, which was previously somewhat timid, leading it to significantly reinforce its deterrence and defense posture in support of the collective defense of Europe, in the name of strategic solidarity and the protection of its security interests.

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Of Walls and Men: Securing African Borders in the 21st Century