Niger : le gouvernement institue les ‘’Domol Leydi’’, des brigades d’autodéfense composées de volontaires armés pour suppléer les FDS Le gouvernement nigérien a décidé de renforcer sa stratégie de défense avec des organisations d’autodéfense, les ‘’Domol Leydi’’ (Protecteurs de la Patrie), des

Niger is influenced in part by Burkina Faso's VDP self-defence groups as it creates a legislative framework for its own 'Domol Leydi' volunteer forces.

The ‘Appification’ of Borders: Political and Technical Stakes - Balsillie School of International Affairs 🔵 Public event Featuring Philippe M. Frowd, Benjamin J. Muller, and Can E. Mutlu

On April 28th @biometricstate.bsky.social, @canmutlu.bsky.social and I will animate a session on the 'appification' of border security, at @balsillieschool.bsky.social. Join in person or online!

heatmaps from the report showing tracking

BREAKING: You checked the weather this morning.

And you just told a surveillance company where you sleep.

Meet #Webloc, used by ICE, cops & foreign govs to track 500m+ phones.

No warrant required.

Our @citizenlab.ca investigation + how to protect yourself 🧵/1
citizenlab.ca/research/ana...

If you're a Western news channel granted rare access to interview Ibrahim Traoré, don't send a journalist who doesn't speak French.

Canadian banks, pension funds have poured billions into ICE contractors OTTAWA — Major Canadian banks and pension funds provided tens of billions of dollars to American contractors for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, an investigation by the non-profit...

Periodic reminder that Canada's self-image as a spectator or benign power obscures our implication in many of the greatest crimes of our time.

Strikes on Iranian universities raise war crime questions, fears of retaliation The same universities where students were protesting the Iranian regime weeks ago have shown up as rubble in news footage of the war.   Almost two dozen universities in the country have s…

Every university in Gaza was destroyed in the last few years, with very little outcry. No surprise to see the playbook extended further afield.

If you haven't yet read Liam Midzain-Gobin's new book 'Settler Colonial Worldmaking', here is a short form of the argument summarizing his talk at uOttawa CIPS last month

You can also see it as an insult to our collective intelligence, which urges us to ignore the evidence of history as well as our eyes and ears, and just inhale pure propaganda.

My generous take is that this proves why arguing about definitions, as fraught as it is, remains so important.

Nathalie Yamb et Franklin Nyamsi nommés au Burkina Le Conseil des ministres du Burkina Faso a adopté, mercredi, deux décrets portant nomination des membres et du président du Conseil d’orientation de l’Institut des peuples noirs-Farafina (IPN-Farafina...

Panafricanist influencers Nathalie Yamb & Franklin Nyamsi named to new Institut des peuples noirs-Farafina (IPN-Farafina) in Burkina Faso. fr.apanews.net/science/nath...

UK agrees deal to ease migrant returns to Nigeria It comes during the Nigerian president's state visit to the UK - the first by a west African leader in 37 years.

The UK border security minister describes Nigeria as its "largest African visa market", as the two countries sign agreements on deportations, trade, and security.

France–Côte d’Ivoire–Bénin: une coopération antiterroriste réaffirmée et renforcée Lors d'une réunion tripartite organisée jeudi 19 mars à Cotonou, les chefs d'état-major des armées française, ivoirienne et béninoise ont convenu de poursuivre leur collaboration entamée l'an dernier....

The relative failure of regional approaches (G5, Accra Initiative) and the emergence of the AES means that int'l security cooperation in West Africa is ever more piecemeal and transactional.

Ghana and EU sign landmark defence deal to combat threat posed by militant Islamists Ghana is the first African country to make such a deal with the EU, the Ghanaian vice-president says.

The EU fears jihadist 'spillover' and is focusing on security partnerships with coastal West African states. Let's see what comes out of this concretely.

Canada’s military spending officially hits 2% of GDP, NATO says Carney touts defence spending as percentage of its economic output is now highest ‘since the fall of the Berlin Wall’

In the midst of a trade war, program & aid cuts, layoffs across the federal public service, a million immigration file backlog, overcrowded prisons, unclean drinking water in Indigenous communities, infrastructure that can't keep up with pop. growth, etc. www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...

Ferdaous Bouhlel and I have a new paper out. Enjoy // Jihadist taxation and order-making in Mali and Niger

This Wisconsin City Ditched AI Surveillance Cameras. Now Activists Want to Keep Going. - Bolts Last November, the city of Verona, Wisconsin, voted to pull out of the sprawling surveillance network run by tech company Flock Safety in hopes of protecting residents’ privacy and preventing... Read ...

The grassroots movement against Flock cameras and mass licence plate surveillance continues to grow.

Lord knows I hate what Twitter / X has become.

But it's only on Twitter that I can still get real-time African reactions to the Cup of African Nations stripping Senegal of the CAF championship and giving it to Morocco.

I wish Bluesky were more global. It's just... not.

Join us tomorrow!

Come to this online event tomorrow and hear all about the wonderful Vicki Squire!!

Next week, the @isaipssection.bsky.social will be honouring Vicki Squire, recipient of the 2026 IPS Distinguished Scholar award. See you there!

Here are snapshots of the first few posts from my new IG page instagram.com/pmfrowd. The latest post is on the AES and liberatory politics in the Sahel. Follow along for more!

Burkina Faso’s Junta Pulls the Plug on Political Life Burkina Faso no longer has political parties, only a military junta.

#BurkinaFaso: Junta Pulls the Plug on Political Life

No more political parties.

Junta's "putting democratic institutions on trial using the pretext of terrorism...but counterterrorism efforts should not undermine civil liberties” A. Newton Barry told @hrw.org

www.hrw.org/news/2026/02...

Pretty rich since his country was built on chattel slavery. As @jamellebouie.net reminds us, these guys are just segregationists.

How ICE Already Knows Who Minneapolis Protesters Are

A Minnesota woman observing ICE agents in her car was cornered on one-way streets. An agent approached, called her by name—citing facial recognition. Days later, her Global Entry and TSA privileges were revoked, with no explanation.