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. […]
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 […]
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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 […]
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American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting, San Francisco, March 17-21, 2026 Paper session organized by Lacey Harris-Coble, University of Florida, and Amalie Ravn Weinrich, University of Copenhagen Abstract Trade cuts across economic, political, cultural, and environmental geographies, yet it is not often given attention as a standalone topic. The geography of trade examines how […]
American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting, San Francisco, March 17-21, 2026 Paper session organized by Olivier J. Walther and David G. Russell, University of Florida Abstract The goal of this paper session is to examine how space shapes civil wars. We are particularly interested in understanding which local determinants explain the onset of political […]
After a decade spent carving out a niche in conflict studies, the time has come to defend it. Since the mid-2010s, my Lab has documented the geography of violence in Africa. To track the spatial evolution of armed conflicts, we have developed a unique indicator that measures both the intensity and spatial concentration of violence. […]
The number of violent events recorded in the last decade in West Africa is either independent of agricultural seasonality or increases with the abundance of resources. The lack of seasonality in West African conflicts suggests that political violence does not have a direct link with environmental factors. Instead, the story of hunger is one of […]
Read more "Violence is not fueled by a lack of food in West Africa"
Subnational data reveal a very strong link between food and political insecurity in West Africa. Regions subject to food insecurity are not only prone to more violence, but conflict is more concentrated spatially than in other regions. More food insecurity in conflict regions This correspondence is particularly evident when disaggregated food security data is superimposed […]
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Spatial analysts thought they could unite geography around a few spatial features. Their failure should not obscure the enthusiasm that reigned in the discipline some 60 years ago. The trilogy of spatial analysis Geographers have long argued that space could be represented on a map by a combination of three fundamental features: points, lines, and […]
Read more "When spatial analysis aspired to unite geography"
Scientific progress is rarely linear. Some ideas go out of fashion, only to reappear in a new guise later. Economic geographers know all about this, having seen their concepts of central places, regions, and cities suddenly revived by the New Economic Geography in the 1990s. I had a similar adventure in my work on conflict. […]