Speaker: Dr. Olivier Walther
Assistant Professor
Department of Geography
University of Florida
Thursday, September 8, 2022
4:00-4:50 PM (Period 9)
Turlington Hall 3018
University of Florida
Abstract: This paper examines the role of borderlands in contemporary armed conflicts in West and North Africa. Building on a disaggregated analysis of more than 171 000 violent events, we show that there is a clear empirical relationship between the number of incidents of violence and the distance to borders. Border regions are indeed more violent than other regions in general. The paper also shows that the relationship of violent events to borders varies significantly over time as discrete episodes of conflict have waxed and waned within the region. Specifically, border violence has shifted from the Gulf of Guinea to the Sahel since the mid-2000s. Finally, the chapter shows that, far from being solely determined by state failure or policy, border violence reflects larger political issues that can threaten a state’s very existence, such as political marginalization.
Biography: An Assistant Professor in Geography at the University of Florida and an affiliated researcher at the UF Sahel Research Group. In the last twelve years, my research has focused on the development of cross-border trade and the emergence of transnational political violence in West Africa. I have conducted fieldwork in Niger, Nigeria, Benin, Mali, Mauritania, and Ghana. My research has pioneered the introduction of social network analysis to the study of borderlands in West Africa.
All are welcome to attend.
For more information, email Dr. Jane Southworth at jsouthwo@ufl.edu