Will Brown

Thanks Nate! Appreciate it

I missed this excellent @ecfr.eu report from several weeks ago on Russian influence in Africa: a comprehensive look at something normally covered only in fragments:

ecfr.eu/publication/...

The bear and the bot farm: Countering Russian hybrid warfare in Africa Russia has many quiet enemies in Africa. Working together, like-minded Africans and Europeans can roll back its troublesome influence.

"Clearly echoing Erwin Rommel’s Nazi force, the Africa Corps is the Kremlin’s new expeditionary formation in Africa. ...Like Wagner before it, it is still laden with neo-Nazi and white supremacist symbology."
on Russian neo-colonialism in Africa:
ecfr.eu/publication/...

The bear and the bot farm: Countering Russian hybrid warfare in Africa Russia has many quiet enemies in Africa. Working together, like-minded Africans and Europeans can roll back its troublesome influence.

A very interesting new @ecfr.eu report about countering Russian hybrid warfare in Africa by @willbrownecfr.bsky.social. I am glad to see that the report really underlines one of my recent pet peeves: The need to go on the offensive on cyber.+

Sudan: A war Europe cannot stop, but cannot ignore El-Fasher in North Darfur is now the epicentre of the world’s greatest humanitarian catastrophe. Europe’s options are limited, but there are still ways to hold the responsible accountable.

Finally, and just published tonight: a European perspective on the humanitarian nightmare in Sudan. Europe can't do much. But @willbrownecfr.bsky.social and @cinziabianco.bsky.social make the case for it doing what it can: ecfr.eu/article/suda...

South Sudan’s president arrests VP, opposition says, risking imminent war President Salva Kiir ordered the arrest of Riek Machar, the opposition said, imperiling a 2018 peace deal. Several embassies urged their citizens to leave the country.

“It looks like President Kiir is continuing to escalate. … Some people in Juba worry that Kiir is trying to start an ethnic war,” ~ Alan Boswell, @crisisgroup.org project director for the Horn of Africa.

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

📢 NEW policy brief on Gulf players' geoeconomic engagement in Africa is out now.

Horn of Africa: Time for preventive diplomacy In both Ethiopia and South Sudan, conflicts are escalating again. To prevent further regionalisation of the conflict landscape, Europe should...

"In both Ethiopia and South Sudan, conflicts are escalating again. To prevent further regionalisation of the conflict landscape, Europe should support high-level diplomacy", writes Gerrit Kurtz at @swp-berlin.org
www.swp-berlin.org/en/publicati...

Russia’s Wagner mercenaries are leading a campaign of terror in Mali Fighting alongside Malian soldiers, Wagner mercenaries have massacred civilians and burned their villages in northern Mali, fueling a fast-growing refugee crisis.

I’m quoted along with the excellent @simnasr.bsky.social and @menastream.bsky.social on the brutal and escalating tactics and attacks on civilians that mark the Wagner group’s presence in Mali: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

The number of civilians casualties from #drone strikes in #Ethiopia is rising sharply with the arrival of new Turkish #drones. The lackluster international attitude on drone warfare is sending states on a killing spree. Strong piece by @zekuzelalem.bsky.social
ecfr.eu/publication/...

Deadly skies: Drone warfare in Ethiopia and the future of conflict in Africa Drone warfare is increasing in Ethiopia and across Africa. These foreign-supplied weapons risk prolonging wars and can help drive governments further away from the West…

On #Ethiopia’s drone-backed wars... "In just a few years, they have become some of the deadliest conflicts for civilians in the country’s history."
ecfr.eu/publication/...

Map showing drone warfare casualties in Ethiopia in the Tigray, Amhara, Oromia and Somali regions.

A must read from one of the journalists I respect the most, @zekuzelalem.bsky.social. We heard all about how drones were going to be revolutionizing medicine delivery in Africa and all that. But what is happening?

Cheap drones have been extending warfare on the continent.
ecfr.eu/publication/...

Deadly skies: Drone warfare in Ethiopia and the future of conflict in Africa Drone warfare is increasing in Ethiopia and across Africa. These foreign-supplied weapons risk prolonging wars and can help drive governments further away from the West…

4/ Zech focuses goes wide and then hones in on Horn of Africa and Ethiopia. Looking at how imported drones changed the course of the Tigray War and how their use by trigger-happy governments is leading to longer, bloodier conflicts.

ecfr.eu/publication/...

3/ Second, I'm really delighted to say my old comrade in arms @zekuzelalem.bsky.social has joined our programme as a visiting fellow.

His first policy brief looks at how drones are changing the nature of power and warfare in Africa. How some countries are handing them out like candy.

Split decision: Why Sudan is on the brink of partition—again The prospect of a divided Sudan is gaining traction among local and regional actors, threatening to further destabilise an already fragile region. European policymakers must act swiftly to arrest this...

2/ A brilliantly thought through and researched brief which can be read as a primer for those who know little about the conflict, building up to pointed recommendations for those already deep, deep in the weeds.

ecfr.eu/publication/...

1/ I want to flag two brilliant new policy briefs from @ecfrafrica.bsky.social fellows.

First, the inimitable Jonas Horner wrote about the greatest crisis on earth today: Sudan. How Europeans can navigate the dizzying range of interests, foreign powers to help bring about peace?

Europe should hijack Trump’s revolutionary plans for the world Liberal nationalists must respond with imagination to US policies rather than gripe at being cut out of Ukraine talks

Ivan Krastev: “what history teaches us is that the best strategy is not to resist the revolutionaries but to hijack their revolution. In doing this, Europe’s success will mostly depend not on its ability to resist but on displaying a talent to surprise.”

on.ft.com/3QE2FPH

Deadly skies: Drone warfare in Ethiopia and the future of conflict in Africa Drone warfare is increasing in Ethiopia and across Africa. These foreign-supplied weapons risk prolonging wars and can help drive governments further away from the West…

A first for me, I wrote a policy brief for the @ecfr.eu, addressing the proliferation of cheap drones across Africa, distributed by the likes of China, Türkiye & the UAE. They cause carnage, the erosion of democracy, but also a political realignment towards Moscow.

I used Ethiopia as a study case.

Children reduced to skin and bones in war-torn Sudan’s forgotten famine Every scrap of food counts for the millions on the brink of starvation in the remote Nuba mountains

A must read from my old colleagues. The world needs to wake up to what's going on www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...

Pressure points: How Europeans could help avert a Third Congo War Congo stands on the brink of being at the centre of a devastating new regional war. Europe should act in its own self-interest to avert further humanitarian catastrophe

Latest: As Trump rattles sabres against old allies, North Korean troops fight on Europe’s border, and Gaza and Khartoum lie in ruins, the restraints—real or imagined—on expansionist ambitions are collapsing.

ecfr.eu/article/pres...

Pressure points: How Europeans could help avert a Third Congo War Congo stands on the brink of being at the centre of a devastating new regional war. Europe should act in its own self-interest to avert further humanitarian catastrophe

Congo stands on the brink of being at the centre of a devastating new regional war. Europe should act in its own self-interest to avert further humanitarian catastrophe, writes @willbrownecfr.bsky.social 📝 @ecfrafrica.bsky.social

Campaigner for migrants in Libya targeted in spyware attack Exclusive: Italy-based David Yambio, a critic of Meloni government, was told of attempt to compromise his phone

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

Militia kills more than 35 civilians in east Congo, village chief says Armed militants killed more than 35 civilians during an attack on a cluster of villages in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's Ituri province on Monday night, a village chief said on Tuesday.

www.reuters.com/world/africa...

The Rise of the Selfish Plutocrats Instead of pursuing philanthropy, many now seek to evade social responsibility.

"The role of the ultra-wealthy has morphed from one of shared social responsibility and patronage to the freewheeling celebration of selfish opulence," @brianklaas.bsky.social writes:

Goma jailbreak: More than 100 women raped and burned alive in DR Congo, UN says As M23 rebels entered Goma and the city was plunged into chaos, female prisoners were attacked, the UN says.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

DR Congo: Escaped prisoners on the streets of Goma Footage shows people believed to be escaped prisoners on the streets of Goma, as M23 rebels enter the Congolese city.

More than 100 female prisoners were raped and then burned alive during a jailbreak in the Congolese city of Goma, according to the UN.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

Well this is absolutely horrying pepfarimpact.vercel.app