2016 : A Year of Conflict Dominated by Despots and Jihadist Insurgencies - : Africa-Wide - Featured Analysis

Abstract

For Africa, the year 2016 saw a continuation of trends rooted in the past and perpetuated by leaders and movements that were also not new. No groundbreaking developments occurred. No Arab Spring rattled the comfort zone of the continent's despots. The predations of terror groups, both indigenous and foreign in origin, waxed and waned in response to counter-insurgency efforts against them. Southern Africa was hit by a record drought that affected hundreds of millions of people; but famine was averted and in many areas, the natural