by Jessica Moody | 6 Sep 2021 | Africa, Asia, Conflict, Educators' Catalog, Islam, Politics, World
Islamist extremists are threatening fragile nations in West Africa. Will Afghanistan’s fall to the Taliban yield lessons for France in the Sahel? A soldier guards a Western military base in Gao, Mali on 6 June 2021, days after France announced the end of its...
When it comes to world politics, major news outlets often focus on one place at a time, obscuring important events unfolding elsewhere that can cause geopolitical ripples. In this article, News Decoder’s Jessica Moody shines a light on extremist violence plaguing West African nations in the Sahel, the semi-arid region below the Sahara. She draws parallels between French military involvement in the region and the United States’ recent withdrawal from Afghanistan, highlighting the global challenge of preventing extremist groups from proliferating in fragile states.
Exercise: Ask students to search news sites or newspapers for a global story that is not on the front page, then have them share their findings and explain why we should pay attention.
by Jessica Moody | 11 Nov 2020 | Africa, Future of Democracy, Government, Human Rights
Youth in Nigeria, angry over police brutality, have formed a movement that started with street protests and which some see as a potential political force. Youth protest against Nigeria’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Lagos, Nigeria, 9 October 2020....
by Jessica Moody | 10 Mar 2020 | Health and Wellness
The new coronavirus and Ebola are quite different. But we can draw useful lessons from the disease that ravaged parts of Africa. Liberian Muslims pray before Ebola victims near Monrovia, Liberia, 6 August 2014. (EPA/AHMED JALLANZO) The new coronavirus disease is not...
by Jessica Moody | 3 Feb 2020 | Donald Trump, Terrorism, United States
The U.S. is considering pulling forces out of the Sahel in Africa, where they are fighting Islamic extremists. Would a withdrawal make Americans safer? People flee as security forces aim their weapons during an attack by extremists at a luxury hotel complex in...
by Jessica Moody | 23 Dec 2019 | Africa
Only recently, pirates terrorised ships off of East Africa, crippling sea transport in the resource-rich zone. Now, the scourge has shifted to West Africa. A Somali pirate stands near a Taiwanese fishing vessel in Hobyo, Somalia, 23 September 2012 (AP Photo/Farah Abdi...