Authors
-
Robert S. Burrell
Global and National Security Institute, University of South Florida
Author
https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3920-0939
-
Folahanmi Aina
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London
Author
Keywords:
BRICS, Sahel, climate change, human security, strategic studies, economic security, strategic competition, Algeria, energy security, Niger, Nigeria, terrorism, China
Abstract
As the African Sahel attempts to address endemic challenges of climate change, intrastate conflict, and human insecurity, the continent also finds itself at a crucial inflection point in its geostrategic alignment. Over the past two years, Egypt, Nigeria, and Ethiopia joined South Africa in the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) consortium. With the ejection of French and U.S. forces from West Africa in 2024, the growing use of Russia’s Africa Corps for security provisioning, and heavy infrastructure and mining investments from China, some countries in Africa appear to be leaving the Western diplomatic orbit and moving decidedly east.
Author Biographies
-
Robert S. Burrell, Global and National Security Institute, University of South Florida
Dr. Robert S. Burrell is a Senior Research Fellow with Global and National Security Institute at University of South Florida. From 2020-2024, he was an Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Joint Special Operations University. He was also the former editor-in-chief of doctrine for Special Operations Command from 2011-2014, where he oversaw the development of irregular warfare doctrine for the Department of Defense. His areas of expertise and scholarship includes history, international relations, and military science. During academic years 2001-2004, he taught military history at U.S. Naval Academy. He is a retired Marine with combat experience and two tours in Iraq. He is also an Asia-Pacific expert with 12 years living and working in Japan, Korea, Philippines, and Thailand, as well as a diplomatic tour at the U.S. Embassy in Australia from 2016-2019.
-
Folahanmi Aina, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London
Dr. Aina is a Political Scientist and international security analyst. He is currently a lecturer in the political economy of violence, conflict and development, at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, United Kingdom. He holds a master’s degree in African studies, from the University of Oxford and a doctorate degree in Leadership Studies, with reference to security and development from King’s College London, United Kingdom. His research interests include peace, security and development, with a regional focus on West Africa’s Sahel and Lake Chad regions and coastal West African states. His works have been published in several reputable international peer reviewed academic journals such as African Security, Armed Forces & Society, Applied Security Research, and Democracy and Security amongst others.
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Strategic Competition
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All articles published in the Journal of Strategic Competition are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This permits anyone to share, adapt, and build upon the work for any purpose, even commercially, as long as proper attribution is provided to the original author(s) and the journal.
