Skip to main content
Department of Geography College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
The Islamic State is expanding into rural Nigeria

The Islamic State is expanding into rural Nigeria

For over a decade, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has waged an intense insurgency across the Lake Chad region, impacting communities across Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria. The geographic nature of this threat is changing. Our analysis of conflict data spanning 2015 to 2025 reveals that while the insurgency initially targeted urban centers, […]

Read More
The resurgence of fortified landscapes in West Africa

The resurgence of fortified landscapes in West Africa

West African states respond to insurgencies by building city walls and fortifying borders. These initiatives aimed at controlling the movement of jihadist groups are a double-edged sword. While they provide short-term protection, they can also deepen rural insecurity and civilian vulnerability. By Olivier Walther and Steven M. Radil, 4/28/2026. The new fortresses In August 2024, militants […]

Read More
Insurgent mobility and state fortification in West Africa

Insurgent mobility and state fortification in West Africa

Conflict in West Africa is shaped by a struggle between mobile insurgents and states whose power depends on territorial control. While insurgents exploit speed and rural fluidity to expand their reach, states retreat into fortified towns and military enclaves. Mobile space theory can help explain this recurring spatial pattern. By Olivier Walther, 5/6/2026. The fortification […]

Read More
Mapping African Borderlands Studies

Mapping African Borderlands Studies

A bibliometric analysis of the forthcoming Routledge Handbook of African Borderlands shows that the field is highly fragmented, with over 90% of references cited only once and only a small core of widely shared works. By Olivier Walther, 5/19/2026. A new handbook At the end of June, Routledge will publish our Handbook of African Borderlands. […]

Read More
In the Sahel and Iran, chokepoints are essential instruments of power

In the Sahel and Iran, chokepoints are essential instruments of power

Control over infrastructure has become a key factor in armed conflicts. In the West African Sahel as in the Persian Gulf, political power depends on the ability to control flows rather than territories. The Strait of Hormuz’s strategic significance, like that of the Sahelian road network, accumulated through decades of global energy infrastructure. Today, those […]

Read More

About

The UF African Networks Lab studies trade and politically violent networks. We use social network analysis to visualize the structure of social networks and model their temporal evolution and spatial patterns.

Projects

Our work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, NASA, the U.S. Department of State, the OECD, the United Nations World Food Program, UK International Development, the Luxembourg and Denmark research funds, and private foundations.

Publications

We publish peer-reviewed articles in geography and social sciences journals such as the Annals of the AAG, Terrorism and Political Violence or World Development, as well as policy reports, and blogs. Check out our new Handbook of African Borderlands.

Team

We are a small team of geographers and spatial analysts interested in networks, space, borders, territory, and distance. Contact us if you are interested in working with us.

News

Check out our Atlas of Mali! Our work on defensive trenches was featured in The Economist! We recently used sequence analysis to understand how armed conflict spread in Africa.

SNA in Africa

Formal approaches that map and model social structures are still rare in Africa. This is a list of publications that have used social network analysis on the continent.

Blog

This is where we publish our shortest and latest pieces.