Episode 256 – Why is Africa rife with jihadi groups?
Last year the Global Terrorism Index for the first time put an African nation, Burkina Faso, at the top of its list of terrorist attacks. A phenomenon most associate with the Middle East (and West Asia: think Pakistan and Afghanistan) is now increasingly dominated by Africa. Why? Borealis talks with an African specialist to find out what groups pose the greatest threat.
About my guest
Tammy Palacios is the Program Manager and Founder of the Priority Sustainable Counterterrorism portfolio and model at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy located in Washington D.C., and 2023-2024 Fellow with the Modern War Institute at West Point. Ms. Palacios has presented at the Wilson Center and the US Military Academy, and published the paper “Preventing Another al Qaeda-Affiliated Quasi-State: Countering JNIM’s Strategic Civilian Engagement in the Sahel”. Ms Palacios holds a Master’s degree in Security & Terrorism Studies and Graduate Certificate in Terrorism Analysis from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland and Bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Politics & Government from the University of Hartford.
