Assessing the Character of Contemporary US/UK Counter Terrorism Engagement in West Africa

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Research Questions: 1. How have the USA and UK responded to increasing Islamist extremist insurgency in West Africa?2. How are these engagements shaped by changing regional counter-terrorism coalitions?3. How do these engagements affect counter terrorism, conflict resolution and regional governance trajectories?Background/Rationale: Recent waves of Islamist insurgency (Al Qaeda in the Sahel and ISIS-aligned Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region) have profoundly impacted the security landscape in West Africa. In response, Western powers have been re-configuring their efforts to combat terrorism in the region, with most scholarship focusing on the robust interventionist role taken by France (the main external protagonist in the region). By contrast, and despite major security and development interests in the region, the on-going US/UK role (in training, exercises, logistics, surveillance & intelligence and military action) has been largely overlooked. To rectify this gap, this project assesses the character of recent USA/UK military/security engagements in West Africa examining the drivers of counter terrorism actions, the shaping of (and reactions to) changing regional security coalitions and the effects on counter terrorism, conflict resolution and political governance trajectories. The project is expected to be a qualitative study relying on elite interviews and discourse analysis. It would support the DTP's contribution to the ESRC Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF - see below).