grey dynamics

Africa’s Last Colony
: A Dangerous Status Quo

May 2, 2019

Fredrik Hellem

    Western Sahara’s conflict between Morocco and Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguia el Hamra y Rio de Oro (Polisario Front) have been neglected by the international community for decades. Now, with new momentum, it is time to push for reconciliation or witness new generations of Sahrawi’s give up on peace and take up arms.       Two Fronts in the Making   Western Sahara was colonised by Spain until it withdrew in 1976. As the Spanish withdrew,…

The Crime Dilemma: The Rise of Private Security in Latin America

April 30, 2019

Dylan Ramshaw

      Criminal violence in Latin America has reached epidemic proportions despite gains in poverty reduction, education, health and overall living standards. The response of many governments, corporations, and the wealthy has been to invest heavily in private security, often to the detriment of public security and human rights. This trend has given rise to a booming private security industry that remains largely unregulated and has accelerated the proliferation of weapons.   According to a report last year by…

On the Brink of Civil War
: Cameroon’s Battle with Anglophone Separatists

April 25, 2019

Dylan Ramshaw

    Since 2016, Cameroon has experienced an escalating conflict that began as a peaceful protest from a self-perceived marginalized minority and now has the potential to lead to civil war. The International Crisis Group (ICG) says the death toll since the start of the fighting exceeds 500 civilians and more than 200 security forces. Around 437,000 people have fled the fighting according to the United Nations.   Human rights groups have both accused government security forces and separatists of…

Sirens & Secrets: The Counterintelligence Failures of Britain’s Secret Police Part II

April 24, 2019

Insider Expert

      Undercover officers from the Metropolitan Police enjoyed several successes over 40 years in missions to infiltrate environmental, political and animal rights-activism groups and identify and disrupt planned protect activities, serious political violence and public disorder. Superior capabilities and access to resources and expertise conferred a competitive advantage and meant they were able to utilise intelligence to support their mission. However, a series of counterintelligence (CI) failures on the part of the undercover officers meant the operations unravelled…

Sirens & Secrets: The Counterintelligence Failures of Britain’s Secret Police Part I

April 18, 2019

Insider Expert

      For over 40 years, undercover officers from the Metropolitan Police infiltrated a number of environmental, political and animal-rights activism groups, tasked with identifying and disrupting planned protest activities. In the short term, the undercover officers were successful: they exploited the lack of effective counterintelligence (CI) mechanisms and deceived activists, avoided detection and neutralised and constrained acts of violence and public disorder.     However, in the long term the operations have been highly problematic. The conduct of…

JNIM: Al Qaeda’s assault on Burkina Faso

April 8, 2019

Dylan Ramshaw

    Burkina Faso has experienced a wave of terrorist attacks since the coup in 2015. A number of groups with shifting and overlapping allegiances are involved in Burkina Faso and have claimed responsibility for many of the attacks. The most prominent are the Burkinabè armed Islamist group Ansarul Islam, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) as well as its affiliates, notably Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin – “Group for Support…