The Lawfare Podcast Lawfare Daily: Terrorism and Insurgency in sub-Saharan Africa
May 13, 2026
Alexander (Zander) Palmer, a CSIS fellow tracking transnational terrorism in Africa, and Holly Berkley Fletcher, a former CIA Africa analyst, unpack jihadist networks across the Sahel, Lake Chad, Mozambique, and Somalia. They discuss how weak states and local politics fuel violence. They examine evolving tactics like weaponized drones, regional vulnerabilities, global shocks, and what outside powers should rethink.
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Extremists Provide Negative Services
- Insurgent 'service provision' is mainly negative: security, order, and taxation rather than public goods.
- Palmer describes taxation of gold mining and protection-racket style stability in JNIM areas.
Counterterrorism Needs Political Foundations
- Military counterterrorism alone cannot fix the problem without political and governance solutions.
- Holly Berkley Fletcher stresses external nation-building is limited and that local political will and legitimacy are essential.
Local Gains Raise Long-Term Threats To Others
- Rising local power and territory increase future risk even if external attacks are unlikely now.
- Alexander Palmer warns capabilities grow over years and monitoring intentions plus capabilities matters for long-term risk.
