New book addresses transnational organizations in Africa

Our new book “African Border Disorders” was published in the Routledge Series in African and International Politics this week. Edited with my colleague Bill Miles at Northeastern, the book explores the relationships that bind states, transnational rebels and extremist organizations, and borders in Africa.

Combining network science with geographical analysis, the first part of the book highlights how the fluid alliances and conflicts between rebels, extremist organizations and states shape regional patterns of violence in Africa. The second part examines the spread of Islamist violence around Lake Chad through the lens of the violent group Boko Haram, which has evolved from a nationally oriented militia group, to an internationally networked organization. The third part of “African Border Disorders” explores how violent extremist organizations conceptualize state bound­aries and territory and, reciprocally, how the civil society and the state respond to the rise of transnational organizations.

This edited volume is the first tangible output of our international network funded by the Danish government. It builds on a two-day workshop organized at the Division of Global Affairs at Rutgers–The State University of New Jersey in September 2016.

Editors: Olivier J. Walther and William F.S. Miles. Contributors: Dan Cunningham (NPS), Caitriona Dowd (IDS), Nikolas Emmanuel (Copenhagen), Sean Everton (NPS), Christian Leuprecht (Queen’s), William F.S. Miles, Jaume Castan Pinos (SDU), Steven M. Radil (Idaho), David Skillicorn (Queen’s), Kristen Tsolis (MIIS), Olivier J. Walther, Bruce Whitehouse (Lehigh), Quan Zheng (Queen’s).