The complex question of the Foreign Terrorist Fighters and their families returning from areas once controlled by DAESH is a high priority policy area for NATO members and its partners, particularly in the South. Of the at least 6,900 foreign women – some 3,000 from the MENA region – who are believed to have traveled to join DAESH in Syria and Iraq, it is unclear how many have actually returned to their home countries since the fall of the terrorist group’s last stronghold of Baghouz in 2019. What has happened to these women? Are they trying to return? What awaits them when they arrive?

NATO Strategic Direction South Hub (NSD-S Hub) and Three Stones International (TSI) collaborated to conduct a live online webinar on the 28 April, 2020, supplemented by secondary data review and an online survey, to better understand Africa’s response to COVID-19, and relative successes, challenges and recommendations for NATO’s contribution. The webinar dialogue and audience comments allowed the NSD-S Hub to engage and learn from African experts sharing regional experience from eight different countries. The discussion addressed COVID-19 preparedness and response across the African continent, including the overall impact on political, economic and social stability. While the panellists touched on matters related to the immediate impacts on health and wellbeing of citizens, they also addressed the long-term implications to trade, national and regional economies, political stability and regional cooperation. Additionally, the dialogue explored recommendations for support which African nations and NATO could employ both in pandemic response and post-pandemic recovery.

China’s involvement in Africa and the Middle East region is not new but it has significantly increased since the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative. Globally, even though China remains behind other historical partners such as the USA or Europe, the growth rate of its engagement is far higher. The gradual erosion of the Chinese principle of non-intervention has led China to change its posture vis-à-vis other developing countries, shouldering its responsibilities to help and, in some cases, to act as a model.

On February 11, 2020 NATO’s Strategic Direction – South Hub (NSD-S Hub), in collaboration with Three Stones International (TSI), facilitated a webinar dialogue on the condition of trafficking in persons (TIP) and human smuggling in Africa. This live webinar, in conjunction with a secondary data review, and an online survey supported the NSD-S Hub’s research agenda regarding the promotion of political and economic stability in Africa. The webinar panelists were subject matter experts in the fields of human trafficking, smuggling, migration, and human rights. Additionally, data was collected via surveys from an additional 20 subject matter experts from 13 different African countries, which provided the NSD-S Hub with well-informed insight into the realities of TIP and human smuggling in Africa.

Over the last decade, mass and unregulated migration has sparked significant concerns in public opinion, particularly in Europe. While the number of new arrivals of migrants has sharply declined from its high of over one million in 2015, the movement and integration of those from across the Mediterranean remain today of major concern for Europe and, by extension, the Atlantic Alliance. Nonetheless, the development of a collective understanding among NATO members of the security implications of such migration for the wider Mediterranean region (including North Africa and Sahel) has not yet been achieved. Making the topic even more complex is the inclusion of the question of direct connections between migrants and terrorists in its framing of the issue.

A digital technology revolution has swept across the African continent over the last two decades, facilitating new business ventures and connecting the African people in ways never before possible. NATO Strategic Direction South Hub (NSD-S Hub), in collaboration with Three Stones International, arranged an online video conference with various subject matter experts from across Africa to discuss the challenges and opportunities of digital technology on the continent.

The Gulf of Guinea is one of the World’s richest yet still under-developed regions. It produces about 5 million barrels of oil per day and about 600 thousand tons of fish are caught every year. There are 1.2 million hectares of mangroves, large reserves of minerals and other natural resources such as gas, diamonds, gold and uranium as well as a very rich rain forest, accounting for 20% of the world’s total, which provides shelter and protection to a large portion of the World’s biodiversity. The region is also a major maritime highway for world trade which, considering the abundance of raw materials, further increases its relevance for rich and industrialised countries.

Russia’s increasing assertiveness in Africa and the Middle East can be seen both as a reaction to the economic and political containment regime enforced by western countries after the annexation of Crimea and as a further effort to improve its geopolitical standing, well beyond the near abroad where Moscow has been consistently advocating the idea of a “Russian world”.

Until very recently, energy security had been considered a purely economic issue, whereas it is now understood to be a multi-dimensional concept made up of technical, economic, social, environmental and geo-political aspects. The absence of protection from or adaptability to threats caused by or having an effect on the energy supply chain’ is a commonly accepted definition.

The security situation in this sub-region is highly complex due to several socio-economic, political and geo-political factors which range from extreme poverty to maritime insecurity.

The region of the Great Lakes, and the Democratic Republic of Congo in particular, are affected by the Conflict Minerals that perpetuates underdevelopment, exacerbates armed conflicts, funds rebel armed groups, and maintains high levels of human rights violations. The nexus between minerals and conflicts is not well analyzed. Therefore, local African experts were sought by to help contextualize this nexus while exchanging views on how NATO can better contribute to security and stability.

The continent of Africa has a multitude of resources and competition for them is extremely complicated. Many external actors are often very interested in one or more resource. In some cases the need is critical, made even more intense when several external actors each have critical needs. Often the resources are strategic for several external actors and are at the same time limited.

Non-state armed groups, including violent extremist organizations, self-defense militias, and criminal gangs, are governance providers to local populations in the Sahel to a much greater degree than previously reported in the so-called “ungoverned spaces. NSAGs provide four key forms of governance: security; justice; political and economic administration; social support and enforcement of social rules, across large sections of Mali, but also in Burkina Faso and Niger.

Africa, as a continent of economic opportunities, is attracting foreign players. In this context, India is emerging as an important partner, especially for Eastern and Southern Africa. The complexity of its geopolitical environment combined with internal specificities motivated the revival of interest for the continent.

The NATO Strategic Direction – South HUB connects allies, partners, civil society and subject matter experts to better predict and prevent instability and insecurity.

The NATO Strategic Direction – South HUB connects allies, partners, civil society and subject matter experts to better predict and prevent instability and insecurity.

In the framework of its mission, the NATO Strategic Direction-South (NSD-S) Hub continues to organize events to improve NATO’s situational awareness and understanding of the Southern Flank, contributing to NATO’s projecting stability efforts in the South. The NSD-S Hub examines regional perspectives on challenges and opportunities to further NATO’s aim of supporting stability and security for Africa and the Middle East.

Stability in North Africa (NA) is highly influenced by regional dynamics as well as external factors. Challenges to stability arise from diverse factors such as economic development and unemployment, energy security, migration and demographic pressures, trafficking, radicalization and terrorism.

Water scarcity poses a global threat, but its effects are more visible in arid or semi-arid regions like the Middle East. Factors like climate change and persistent conflict, as witnessed in the Middle East, significantly exacerbate water scarcity and provoke security risks such as socio-economic instability and migration.

To celebrate Africa Day 2019 (formerly African Freedom Day and African Liberation Day), NATO Strategic Direction – South HUB and Three Stones International look forward to discussing with you this year’s theme: "Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa: Towards Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement”.

On January 29, 2019, the NATO Strategic Direction– South HUB and Three Stones International held an online chat forum to discuss “Perceptions of NATO in North Africa and the Sahel.” The purpose of the forum was to gain key inputs from regional stakeholders to help NATO identify where opportunities exist for positive and mutually beneficial engagement in the region.

Save the Date 28 February 2019. Gender Equality & In/Stability in Africa

In Africa, urbanization is projected to continue to increase at an unprecedented pace. In 2015, Africa’s urban population was close to 40 percent. By 2050, more than 60 percent of the continent will live in urban areas. In the Middle East, the rate of urbanization also increased dramatically from the 1960s to 2000s, but has recently slowed down.

Access to water is essential to human life, yet water is a scarce resource. According to a 2016 World Bank study, 1.6 billion people live in countries that are water scarce, a number that may double in the next 20 years.

Beginning at the turn of the century and gathering force in the last decade, an information and communication technology (ICT) revolution has swept across Africa. Fueled by the expansion of wireless networks, submarine cable connections, and mobile broadband services, this revolution has afforded access to the internet and social media to the majority of Africans.