In the past 25 years, French Professor Denis Retaillé was involved in the supervision of 39 graduate students. In 2006, I became one of them after completing a joint dissertation between the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and the University of Rouen in France. During my professional career, I have often wondered who else had […]
The creation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in 2023 is the most recent manifestation of a long process of political fragmentation in West Africa. These regional transformations are fueled by a more global rejection of Western-inspired integration models. By Olivier Walther, 2/18/2025 A laboratory for integration West Africa […]
Transport infrastructure is critical in armed conflicts. A dense infrastructure network allows states to provide services to the civilian population and defeat insurgents in a timely manner. Yet, transport infrastructure itself can also become a major target for rebels and violent extremists. This new OECD report examines how the competition for the control of transport […]
Read more "Proximity to roads shapes patterns of violence in North and West Africa"
Political violence is very irregularly distributed across time. Periods of relative calm are often followed by massive waves of attacks. Violent events are relatively rare, sparse and concentrated, making it difficult to evaluate whether violence is actually increasing or decreasing. A novel approach to political violence A new dashboard implemented by the OECD’s Mapping Territorial […]
Read more "New data tool tracks surge in violence in Africa"
This new and very personal atlas explores the geography of Mali, through the 1:200,000 maps produced by the French National Geographic Institute. Each map serves as a starting point for a reflection on the nature of geographical space. Taken together, these commentaries show the variety of the Sahara and of the Sahel and the many […]
African armed conflicts express regularities in the way violence is spatially and temporally distributed. This is the main conclusion of a recent paper published in the Annals of the American Association of Geographers with Steve Radil and David Russell. In this paper, we introduce the concept of Spatial Conflict Life Cycle to examine where, when and […]
Call for Papers American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting, Detroit, March 24-28, 2025 Organizer Olivier J. Walther, University of Florida Session title Armed Conflicts and Transport Infrastructure Abstract Control of transport infrastructure has always been a critical issue in armed conflicts. States are naturally inclined to secure air, surface and maritime systems to control […]
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By Olivier Walther and Daniel Bach, 02/09/2024 The military juntas who broke away from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on January 28th have simultaneously reiterated plans to establish their Alliance des États du Sahel (AES). They are also indicating that they wish to remain members of the West African Economic and Monetary […]
By Olivier Walther. 1/30/2024, updated 2/2/2024, 1/31/2025. On January 28, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced their unilateral decision to withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional bloc founded in 1975. ECOWAS is one of eight regional economic communities recognized by the African Union to foster regional integration on the […]
Read more "Leaving ECOWAS could have catastrophic consequences for the Sahel"
Olivier J. Walther and David G. Russell will chair a paper session at the American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting, April 20, 2024, from 3:00-4:20 PM in room 302B (Makiki), Third Floor, Hawai’i Convention Center, Honolulu, Hawai’i. Abstract Africa has, in recent decades, experienced a growing number of conflicts that are challenging to monitor […]
Read more "The Geography of Armed Conflicts in Africa, AAG 2024"