THREAT REPORTS
The Sahel Jihadist Crisis
The Sahel, “shore” in Arabic, is home to diverse ethnic groups, including the Fulani, Tuareg, Hausa, and Songhai. A long history of political and economic marginalization has created a sense of frustration and resentment, which has been exploited by jihadist groups to recruit fighters and gain support. The overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 led to the proliferation of weapons and the destabilization of neighboring countries, including Mali and Niger. This created a power vacuum that jihadist groups were able to exploit.
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The jihadist insurgency in Mozambique
The insurgency begun in 2017 in the mostly Muslim northern Cabo Delgado province with unemployed and disgruntled youth joining or supporting the group known as Ansar al-Sunna (ASWJ). In 2019 the insurgents have pledged alliance to the Islamic State (IS) and declared itself as the Islamic State Central Africa Province (IS-CAP). The group’s attacks have resulted in over 3000 deaths and displacement of around 800,000 people and also effected the nation’s economy.
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Israel Judical Reform Crisis
Israel is currently experiencing severe political tensions, the worst since its independence, which has severely polarized the population and has the potential to boil over and turn violent. The tensions erupted after the newly appointed justice minister, Yariv Levin, a vocal critic of the Supreme Court, unveiled the newly created government “reform” of the judicial system. If passed, the plan will give the government-- the most ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox in the nation’s history--a total control over the appointment of judges, including Supreme Court justices, which will severely limit the Supreme Court ability to strike down self-determining legislation. The plan will also allow the 120-seat parliament (Knesset) to pass laws that the supreme court has annulled as unconstitutional by override the supreme court decisions with a simple majority of 61 votes.
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