Tags
Afghanistan, al-Shabab, Erica Chenoweth, Ethiopia bad neighborhood, Gabon monarchy, Hizbul Islam, Marc Aubriere, Mogadishu, Northwestern University, questions, SAIS, Somalia, Somalia coffee, Togo monarchy, Uganda monarchy, William Reno
Yesterday I heard William Reno, Professor of Political Science and Director of the African Studies Program at Northwestern (the country’s oldest) speak on ‘Rethinking State-Building in Muslim-Majority States: Grounded View From Somalia.’ I was vaguely familiar with Reno from his work on Sierra Leone in the 90’s which I briefly encountered as a student about a decade later. He remains focused on security issues on the continent and appears to have shifted his focus from resource conflicts in west Africa to network conflicts in the Horn of Africa. He got a bit theoretical at times and my mind wandered (I was a bit out of my element despite having attended another recent area event on Somalia security), but my main takeaways were thus:
Africa in DC 