Comparative Challenges in Securing the Horn of Africa and Sahara

VE Securitization

Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, ungoverned spaces have been viewed by security experts in the United States and elsewhere as potentially “dangerous places” which can host security threats.1 In some ungoverned spaces, violent extremist organizations and other violent non-state actors have been able to establish operating bases and move freely through territory and across boundaries to carry out activities that endanger the security of others. In Africa, the two ungoverned spaces with the most dangerous places for global security have been located in the Sahara, where Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) operates, and the Horn of Africa, where Al Shabaab is based.