Lesley Anne Warner, PhD

Pls don’t cancel me for the name of the bill I proposed. I couldn’t help it bc I’m not usually that clever. 😂

I wrote about how Congress could transform the administration’s commercial diplomacy strategy in Africa from a concept of a plan by codifying it into law and authorizing/appropriating the market-creating and business-enabling foreign assistance that could actually make it work. 👇🏾

Aksum massacre: Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed hits out at Eritrea over atrocities in Tigray Abiy Ahmed admitted for the first time in parliament that Eritrean troops had killed people in Aksum.

Irony truly knows no bounds, as Abiy accuses #Eritrea of atrocities that his government, over which he has a significant control, colluded with them to perpetrate on his own citizens.
www.bbc.com/news/article... #Ethiopia

🚨After being a World Politics Review contributor for several years, last week marked my debut as a monthly columnist!

Check out my first column below👇🏾

Looks like someone found a way to make HDP more palatable. #Pluribus

Although not about Sudan, fellow Sudan-watchers may find this article useful for adding color to the current Saudi-UAE throw down in Yemen. Thinking about what this means for AF, I wonder if this creates an opening for Trump to be receptive to an MBS ask to lean on UAE over their support to the RSF?

Diaspora Mapping and Congressional Pressure Points

I’m a systems person, so cracking the code of how people and institutions function is a bit of a drug. Fellow travelers may appreciate the story of the most effective and impactful diaspora engagement that I witnessed as the Africa staffer on the…

Israel’s Recognition of Somaliland Will Reverberate Beyond the Horn of Africa

To cap off the year, I wrote about the fascinating geopolitics of Israel's recognition of Somaliland and the broader implications for state sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity in this era of global disorder.…

CFR Event: What’s Next for the Global Gen Z Uprisings?

M23 rebels entrench their rule in east Congo even as Trump claims peace Experts say there’s a chance Congo faces an enduring fracture.

Whoops, someone forgot to tell M23 they’re not supposed to be fighting bc of the DRC-Rwanda peace agreement. www.reuters.com/investigatio...

Trump's Nominee for Ambassador to South Africa Gets a Vote in Committee + Legislative Updates

The Political Theater Behind Trump’s “Guns-a-Blazing” Nigeria Threat

Today in Just Security, I wrote about the political theater behind Trump's threat to go into Nigeria "guns-a-blazing" to protect Christians, who he claims, are being persecuted. I unpack the country's longstanding, multifaceted…

Trump’s Short-Sighted Reengagement With the Sahel’s Juntas

Gen Z Uprisings Underscore a Crisis of Legitimacy in African Democracies

The Death of Odinga, a Consummate Dealmaker, Upends Kenyan Politics

Lesley Anne Warner has a lengthy piece about how the U.S. backing away from human rights and democracy concerns will trickle down through Africa to give dictators and autocrats greater leeway to act against civil liberties and the rule of law.

With a Fourth-Term Bid, Cote d’Ivoire’s Ouattara Is Playing With Fire The Cote d’Ivoire president’s bid for controversial fourth term could backfire, with implications for the country and the region.

Cote d’Ivoire’s announced this week that he will run for a controversial fourth term, a move that threatens to reverse years of painstaking progress in the country to consolidate peace and promote social cohesion, @lesleyannewarner.bsky.social writes.

Seven Pillars of Military Integration for DRC-Rwanda Peace Accord These pillars outline requirements to manage armed groups and integrate them into statutory military forces during a war-to-peace transition.

The US-brokered DRC–Rwanda peace accord contains a major stumbling block: military integration.

Conflict, stabilization and political transition expert @lesleyannewarner.bsky.social outlines 7 “pillars” for success:

www.justsecurity.org/118753/drc-r...

Seven Pillars of Military Integration for the DRC-Rwanda Peace Accord

With a Fourth-Term Bid, Cote d’Ivoire’s Ouattara Is Playing With Fire

From 'Defending the Defenders' to Diplomatic Desertion: The Significance of the U.S. Government Ceasing Moral and Diplomatic Support to Pro-Democracy Activists in Africa

Reading between the lines of H.R. 2633 (aka the South Africa bill)

South Sudan’s Latest Crisis Is Following a Familiar Script While conflict isn’t inevitable, a convergence of familiar patterns in South Sudan has significantly increased the risk of renewed violence.

While conflict isn’t inevitable, a convergence of familiar patterns in South Sudan has significantly increased the risk of renewed violence, @lesleyannewarner.bsky.social writes.

South Sudan's Latest Crisis is Following a Familiar Script

“The Geopolitics of Critical Minerals—Risks, Resilience, and Resource Control”

Earlier this week, I attended a very thought-provoking CFR panel on “The Geopolitics of Critical Minerals—Risks, Resilience, and Resource Control” moderated by Heidi Crebo-Rediker, with David Abraham, Gracelin Baskaran,…

Quick Reflections on DRC/Liberia Election to the UN Security Council If there were an administration in the U.S. next year that valued the UN - and multilateralism more broadly - the election of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia to the UN Security Council would be a strategic windfall. Why? Because all three African non-permanent members of the Security Council next year (DRC, Liberia, Somalia) are relatively pro-American countries (under normal circumstances).

Quick Reflections on DRC/Liberia Election to the UN Security Council

If there were an administration in the U.S. next year that valued the UN - and multilateralism more broadly - the election of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia to the UN Security Council would be a strategic…