The geopolitical significance of Sahara is becoming painfully clear Islamist militant groups and transnational criminal networks are operating in the region’s most fragile states, exploiting widespread corruption, weak government capacity, crushing poverty, and entrenched social and ethnic tensions. The unrest spills over borders and aggravates protracted regional crisis.

This insecurity raises urgent concerns for the broader Sahara and the West. Perilous Desert details the sources of instability and what can be done to minimize the threat to simmering conflicts.

Leading experts, though comprehensive accounts of the changing landscape, demonstrate how foreign assistance that relies exclusively on counterterrorism will only exacerbate the problems. Solutions require understanding and combating the roots of the Sahara’s many challenges.

Contents

The Struggle for Security in Eastern Libya
Borderline Chaos? Stabilizing Libya’s Periphery
Organized Crime and Conflict in the Sahel-Sahara Region
The Paranoid Neighbor: Algeria and the Conflict in Mali
The Drivers of Insecurity in Mauritania
Mauritania’s Islamists
Simmering Discontent in the Western Sahara
Conclusion