As policymakers monitor the spread of terrorist violence and warfare from the Sahel region, one broad threat to international and U.S. interests is West Africa’s 3.4 million people uprooted by the Sahel’s chaos. So far, over 110,000 have fled to four West African coastal states, a migration that signals new dangers to the region’s democracies, and to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the multinational body that for decades has been central to promoting region-wide stability.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & Governance;  Fragility & Resilience

Looking out from the town hall in downtown Sarajevo, you’d be hard pressed to find evidence of the nearly four-year-long siege that devastated the city during the Bosnian War. The surrounding area is clean and filled with new and repaired buildings — even the town hall itself is a restoration of the pre-war library that once occupied the space. 

Type: Analysis

Democracy & Governance;  Peace Processes;  Religion

Africans across the continent remain committed to democratic governance — but many are not satisfied with the way democracy currently works in their countries, according to research from Afrobarometer. To address these shortcomings in good governance, the African Union’s African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) offers recommendations on how African governments can improve their countries’ political and economic stability. Afrobarometer CEO Joseph Asunka and APRM CEO Ambassador Marie-Antoinette Rose Quatre discuss the state of democracy on the continent, how Afrobarometer’s extensive survey research helps APRM evaluate the implementation of its recommendations, and how opinions of the African Union have grown more positive in recent years.

Type: Blog

Democracy & Governance

Two years after a seismic political and economic crisis rocked Sri Lanka and brought citizens to the streets in mass protests movements that ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s citizens went to the polls to cast their votes for a new president. On September 21, Sri Lankans elected the left-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake over established politicians including incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa. Dissanayake’s election represents a clear break from Sri Lanka’s old guard political parties, but he will face similar challenges of navigating economic strain and a shifting geopolitical environment while working to deliver on election promises.

Type: Question and Answer

Democracy & Governance;  Economics