Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta

March 5, 2013 | Dawit Giorgis CNN |

Why We Should Be Watching the Gulf of Guinea

As Washington has assessed the implications of Iranian threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical energy chokepoint, a crisis has loomed in another critical maritime e...

June 15, 2011 | World Defense Review

Criminal Networks in West Africa: An Emerging Security Challenge

On April 30, Sidi Ould Sidna, a.k.a. Abou Jendel, an al-Qaeda-linked militant who was escaped earlier in the month from the courthouse in Nouakchott, Mauritania, where he was being tried for the...

June 14, 2011 | World Defense Review

The War on Terrorism in Africa: Assessment and Prospects

The end of one year and the beginning of another is a good time both to take stock of where we have been and to look ahead at the paths we are likely to take and the battles which we will have to...

November 3, 2009 | World Defense review

Climate Change and Security in Africa

By Dr. J. Peter Pham For much of Africa's post-independence history, "African unity" was more an aspiration than a reality. Consequently, even when, as I...

August 14, 2008 |

Jihad for Oil


OIL DEPENDENCE IS America's Achilles' heel in the battle against terrorism--a fact that has not escaped the terrorists. Osama bin Laden and others have declared the oil supply a top target, and subsequent plots demonstrate that the desire to disrupt world energy markets is more than mere rhetoric. This significant weakness should factor heavily in current political debates about alternatives to oil.

July 10, 2008 | World Defense Review

Global Ripples from the Niger Delta

  On June 19, militants affiliated with the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) launched their most audacious attack to date on the West African country's p...

March 6, 2008 |

Why AFRICOM is Critical for Our Security Interests


This week I thought it useful to update readers on developments with some of the stories that have been previously reported in this column.

January 3, 2008 |

The War on Terrorism in Africa: Assessment and Prospects


The end of one year and the beginning of another is a good time both to take stock of where we have been and to look ahead at the paths we are likely to take and the battles which we will have to fight in the coming months. What follows is a broad assessment of status of the African front in what has come to be known as the "Global War on Terror."

July 4, 2007 | Dr. J. Peter Pham World Defense Review

Cabinda: The “Forgotten Conflict” America Can’t Afford to Forget

Because of the sense of urgency repeatedly communicated by this column as well as the parallel efforts of other "Africa hands," the precarious situation of Nigeria – which I have described...

June 13, 2007 | Dr. J. Peter Pham World Defense Review

Nigeria: Flailing State

On the final day of their summit last week at the German Baltic seaside resort of Heiligendamm, as they are nowadays wont to do, the leaders of the G8 received a select delegation of their Africa...

June 6, 2007 | Dr. J. Peter Pham World Defense Review

Securing the New Strategic Gulf

In his 2006 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush issued a call for the United States to "replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025" and to "make...

May 16, 2007 | Dr. J. Peter Pham World Defense Review

Vulnerability of Nigerian Oil Infrastructure Threatens U.S. Interests

Last Friday, oil prices climbed toward $67.00 a barrel as supply disruptions in Nigeria compounded concerns about insufficient gasoline inventory levels in the United States; which have been decl...

April 25, 2007 | Dr. J. Peter Pham World Defense Review

New Fronts Call for New Capacities

As a longtime advocate for the creation of a unified regional combatant command for Africa; an idea for which, in a column published in this very space last year, I argued "the time is now"; I wa...

April 18, 2007 | Dr. J. Peter Pham World Defense Review

Decision Time in Nigeria

Over the course of the last year, this column has regularly chronicled developments in Nigeria; including Islamist activism in the north, evidence of growing connections to international terroris...

March 1, 2007 |

The Battle for Nigeria

WITH AROUND 36 billion barrels of proven petroleum reserves-the largest in Africa and the eighth largest in the world-Nigeria is America's fifth-largest supplier of oil. In 2006, the United...

December 22, 2006 |

Nigeria’s Electoral Intrigue

It barely registers on inside-the-Beltway policy discussions, but few countries are as vital to the strategic interests of the United States as Nigeria. With some 35.9 billion barrels of proven p...

November 30, 2006 | World Defense Review

Islamism Comes to the Niger Delta

Last month, I discussed in this column the immense importance of the Nigerian elections scheduled for April 21, 2007, concluding: "If President Obasanjo manages to hand ov...

October 5, 2006 | World Defense Review

Nigeria at the Crossroads

Over the long-term, perhaps no African country is as vital to the strategic interests of the United States as Nigeria. Alas, the country is also a study in contradictions. With some 35.9...

September 14, 2006 | World Defense Review

West Africa and the Coming Naval Battle in al-Qaeda’s Economic War Against America

Despite the unfortunate tendency among many talking heads to oppose "soft power" to "hard power" – usually these days to the detriment of the latter – the truth is that the two aspect...

August 17, 2006 | World Defense Review

Niger Delta Blues

Last week's announcement by British Petroleum (BP) that it might have to shut down its 400,000 barrels-per-day Prudhoe Bay oil field – after an inspection turned up severe corrosion an...