Program Publications

The Atlantic Council established the Michael S. Ansari Africa Center in September 2009 with a mission to promote strong geopolitical partnerships with African states and to redirect US and European policy priorities towards strengthening economic growth and prosperity on the continent.

The Africa Center provides thought leadership on emerging security, geopolitical, and economic challenges in Africa through congressional testimony, publications, briefings, events, and a robust media presence. The Center assists policymakers in addressing the complex security challenges facing Africa, including the problems of state collapse; humanitarian crises; piracy; the growing nexus between extremism and criminality in West Africa and the Sahel; the ongoing political transitions in North Africa; ongoing challenges in Central and Southern Africa; and the growing impact of Islamist extremism on African polities and economies. Within the context of the Atlantic Council’s work to promote constructive US leadership and engagement in international affairs, the Center supports and collaborates with the public and private sectors in forging practical solutions to challenges and opportunities—particularly economic opportunities—in Africa. The Center seeks to persuade policymakers and the public sector of the strategic importance of Africa while analyzing the efforts of new actors on the continent—including China, India, Brazil and Turkey—and their impact on US and European interests. In its newest initiative, to be launched in 2013, the Center will inform decisions about participating in Africa's economic and commercial opportunities by engaging in a collaborative partnership to create an innovative real-time African Investment Scorecard.

Over the course of the past year, the Africa Center has provided an important platform for assessing and revising US policy toward Sudan and South Sudan and has been at the cutting edge of analysis on the growth of extremism in the Sahel and West Africa as well as the fragile progress being made in Somalia. In addition to ongoing work on these specific geopolitical challenges, the Center’s programming focuses on five policy initiatives: Influencing African Security Policy, African Prosperity, Emerging Economic Powers in Africa, Conversations with African Leaders, and Leaders of Tomorrow.

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST

To join the Michael S. Ansari Africa Center mailing list, email africa@acus.org.

NEW LOCATION

The Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and the Michael S. Ansari Africa Center are located in the Atlantic Council’s Satellite Office at 888 16th Street, NW | 8th Floor | Washington, DC 20005.

J. Peter Pham Gives Lecture at US Army War College on “Lessons from the Former Somalia”

April 19, 2013

J. Peter Pham, director of the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, spoke today on “Lessons from the Former Somalia” at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Discussion with Zimbabwean Minister of Finance Tendai Biti

April 19, 2013

The Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center hosted a not-for-attribution roundtable discussion with the Right Honourable Tendai Biti, MP, minister of finance of the Republic of Zimbabwe and secretary-general of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

J. Peter Pham Authors Study on Chinese Navy’s East African Deployment

April 18, 2013

J. Peter Pham, director of the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, authored a new study on the Chinese navy’s counter-piracy deployments off East Africa published in the current issue of the Journal of the Middle East and Africa.

Former French Prime Minister François Fillon, Senator Chris Coons Discuss Threats in Northwest Africa in Capitol Hill Briefing

April 17, 2013

The Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center organized a briefing on Capitol Hill on “Collective Security Threats in North and West Africa” featuring a keynote presentation by former French Prime Minister François Fillon and remarks by Senator Chris Coons, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs.

J. Peter Pham Speaks at World Affairs Council Event on the Maghreb

April 11, 2013

J. Peter Pham, director of the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, spoke at a World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh event, “Does the Maghreb Matter? Building Peace Through Economic Development.”

Youth Unemployment in Africa: Addressing the Challenge

April 08, 2013

The Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, in partnership with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), hosted a discussion on youth employment in Africa with Mario Pezzini, director of the OECD Development Centre.

J. Peter Pham Discusses Sahel and Maghreb Challenges on World Affairs Council Radio Show

April 08, 2013

J. Peter Pham, director of the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, was interviewed by Steven Sokol, president and chief executive officer of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh, on the political, economic, and security challenges in the Sahel and the Maghreb for this week’s edition of the Council’s radio show Global Press Conference.

The African State and the Failure of US Counterterrorism Initiatives in Africa

April 02, 2013

The Michael S. Ansari Africa Center hosted a luncheon presentation by Hussein Solomon, senior professor in the department of political science at the University of the Free State in South Africa, on “The African State and the Failure of US Counterterrorism Initiatives in Africa.”

J. Peter Pham on Continued Fighting in Mali (BBC World News)

April 02, 2013

J. Peter Pham, director of the Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, joined Katty Kay on the BBC World News to discuss the resurgence of clashes between Malian soldiers and Islamist extremists in Timbuktu, and the impact of the fighting on regional stability in West Africa and the Sahel.

New Book on Somalia by J. Peter Pham, Greg Mills, and David Kilcullen

April 02, 2013

Somalia: Fixing Africa’s Most Failed State

Cape Town, South Africa-based publisher Tafelberg released today a new book on the Somali crisis co-authored by J. Peter Pham, director of the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, with Greg Mills, director of the Brenthurst Foundation, and David Kilcullen, former chief strategist in the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the US State Department and former senior counterinsurgency advisor to General David Petraeus.