Romane Dideberg

The EU wants a bigger role in resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict, but internal splits and damaged credibility hold it back.

Ahead of tomorrow's European Council discussions on EU Middle East policy, you can read my thoughts on how the EU can start rebuilding its influence: 👉

Escaping Sudan’s war – and remembering the Khartoum they fled Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmed tells Iona Allan about ‘Khartoum’, the documentary he co-directed, which explores the lives and memories of five people exiled by the civil war.

🎞️'Right now, more than 12 million people have been displaced because of the war in #Sudan. The portraits in the film were an effort to humanize the statistics' filmmaker Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmed tells @theworldtoday.org about Khartoum, the film he co-directed.

➡️Read here: bit.ly/4s5awrc

West Africa needs regional solutions to combat the escalating Sahel security crisis A military takeover in Guinea-Bissau and an attempted coup in Benin are the latest tests for ECOWAS. But it is the ever-spreading Sahel security crisis that remains the greater challenge for regional ...

A military takeover in Guinea-Bissau and an attempted coup in #Benin are the latest tests for #ECOWAS. But it is the ever-spreading Sahel security crisis that remains the greater challenge for regional leadership, write @dideberg.bsky.social and Paul Melly in their latest comment: bit.ly/49hrSIP

West Africa needs regional solutions to combat the escalating Sahel security crisis A military takeover in Guinea-Bissau and an attempted coup in Benin are the latest tests for ECOWAS. But it is the ever-spreading Sahel security crisis that remains the greater challenge for regional ...

In our latest expert comment for @chathamhouse.org, Paul Melly and I unpack how the coup attempt in #Benin and the coup in #Guinea-Bissau are placing additional demands on #ECOWAS's leadership as West Africa continues to confront the spread of violence across the #Sahel.

➡️Read more: bit.ly/49684Ja

Glad to share our piece for @chathamhouse.org about Cameroon’s post-electoral crackdow, how it is deepening the legitimacy deficit and what it might mean for political transition

Suppression of post-election protests in Cameroon will not solve the country's looming succession crisis The controversial re-election of 92-year-old President Paul Biya for an eighth term has sparked protests in Cameroon. The failure to prepare a constitutional transition plan risks further destabilizin...

In our @chathamhouse.org expert comment, Hubert Kinkoh and I write that the crackdown on nationwide #protests in #Cameroon not only deepens the country’s legitimacy deficit but risks planting the seeds of a chaotic leadership transition.
@africaprog.bsky.social
www.chathamhouse.org/2025/10/supp...

Responsible resourcing – where does traceability begin? - Africa in Fact Where do the aluminium, cobalt, copper, gold, graphite, and tin in your phone, or if you’re lucky, your electric vehicle, come from? How was it produced? Who handled it? Did any of the material come f...

If narrowly enforced, traceability risks culminating in a two-speed system, further disadvantaging artisanal mining while reinforcing their dependence on alternative, illicit chains.

⬇️ Glad to share our contribution to Africa in fact’s edition on mining

🔗link:
africainfact.com/responsible-...

Join this discussion with the ICRC, MONUSCO and one analyst ⬇️

"Italian policies show that attempts to subcontract border control to actors in states mired in conflict cannot be solely based upon financial support. These approaches undermine broader political goals and lock countries into transactional relationships that are hard to escape from."

🚨Upcoming conference with Amani Africa | #Africa’s rising influence

Register↓
www.chathamhouse.org/events/all/r...

This conference examines how Africa can assert greater strategic influence across a rapidly evolving global landscape.

#CHAfrica #AfricaRising #AfricanAgency #ForeignPolicy

Join us next Tuesday for a discussion on Africa's just energy transitions ahead of COP30 in Belem ⬇️

Opinion | The World’s Warlords Are Watching Sudan If the world recognizes Sudan’s military government, it will exacerbate a humanitarian crisis — and betray the country’s pro-democracy movement.

“If the United States and others are serious about achieving lasting peace in Sudan, they must empower the country’s civilian representatives, not its warlords,” Suliman Baldo and Mai Hassan write.

Inside the world of Kenya’s ‘shadow scholars’ paid to write essays for UK students Highly educated Kenyans working for essay mills ghostwrite academic work that students pass off as their own

Inside the world of Kenya’s ‘shadow scholars’ paid to write essays for UK students

NEW REPORT | Rwandan-backed M23 has launched a systematic state-building project to translate its military gains in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) into a de facto autonomous region. 🧵

Read the full report here: www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/m23...

Managing Editor, International Affairs - Chatham House Exciting opportunity to lead on the editorial production of the journal, and set and deliver the journal’s business plan and strategic objectives, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

📢 JOB ALERT: We are looking for a Managing Editor to join our team!

This is an exciting opportunity to lead on our editorial production, and set and deliver our strategic objectives and work with a vibrant team!

Apply by 14 September below ⤵️

careers.chathamhouse.org/jobs/6364630...

⬇️A fascinating issue edited by my brilliant colleagues, and it is open-access!⬇️

Democracy in Nigeria Explaining the history of Africa’s largest democracy and the influence of the military, ethnicity, and religious belief.

📄 Successive Nigerian governments have long faced challenges in uniting a diverse nation formed by colonial borders.

@chathamhouse.org’s @leenakhoffmann.bsky.social explains the role of the military and ethnicity influences in the quest for a better democracy: www.chathamhouse.org/2022/06/demo...

🧵 (6/6) Our research recommends:
-Enhanced interoperability and complementarity among traceability initiatives,
-Inclusion of ASM by designing flexible, affordable, and scalable traceability tools,
-State and non-state actor collaboration in enforcement and oversight, and local capacity building

🧵 (5/6) Fundamentally, achieving the European Union’s traceability objectives depends on African states’ supporting broader legal enforcement and implementation capacities. Such initiatives should not be externally imposed but rather undertaken with African governments and regional bodies.

🧵 (4/6) We insist on the risk of marginalisation of small producers due to the capital-intensity of many traceability solutions, emphasizing the socio-economic importance of artisanal mining in sustaining millions of livelihoods in Africa.

🧵 (3/6) Digital ledgers are a tool for traceability, but do not provide a panacea. Data systems are only as credible as the humans that input into them. Trade-offs between certainty, cost, and ease of implementation are inevitable.

🧵 (2/6) Due to the growing regulatory pressure and consumer expectations, traceability is expanding as a means to verify ESG claims in mineral supply chains.

🧵 (1/6) In my first co-authored research report for the European Parliaments' Development Committee, Chris Vandome and I dive into the traceability of the critical minerals, emphasizing the African upstream mining context ⛏️:

Traceability of critical raw materials, with a focus on Africa | Think Tank | European Parliament Traceability of critical raw materials, with a focus on Africa

🚨This new study by @chathamhouse.org’s Chris Vandome and @dideberg.bsky.social serves as a technical and logistical primer on traceability mechanisms, focusing on upstream #mining in Africa – the part of a mineral supply chain from extraction to transformation.

europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en...

How Middle East conflicts could destabilize African nations – DW – 07/01/2025 Strategic interests link Israel and Iran to African states. Analysts say threats loom for volatile African nations if the Iran-Israel confrontation escalates.

🌍 #Iran and #Israel’s limited economic and diplomatic overall footprint in #Africa so far means the fallout from their conflict “will have primarily indirect geopolitical implications”

— @chathamhouse.org’s @dideberg.bsky.social

Read more: www.dw.com/en/israel-ir...

Since facing workers' rights lawsuits in Kenya, #Meta moved its moderation operations to a secret new location.

We found them, in Ghana, where conditions appear to be even worse.

Our joint investigation from @tbij.bsky.social and @theguardian.com out today

👇

📄 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗣𝗨𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 by @ninawilen.bsky.social
& Kwesi Aning. Published by KAS.

“Countering Extremism in West Africa: What Options are Left?”

#WestAfrica

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 👉 tinyurl.com/3bxukawx

Pleased to share my first piece for @ChathamHouse, exploring how West Africa can move beyond regional fragmentation to address shared security challenges, co-authored with @paulmelly.bsky.social

Must-read commentary, covering the governance crisis in the Kivus: "Outside M23-held areas, a growing part of the population is left at the mercy of armed groups that have long operated in the region but whose power and scope have increased in the context of the war against the M23/AFC"

Procès Sarkozy-Kadhafi : le parquet requiert sept ans de prison ferme contre l’ancien président C’est une première dans l’histoire pénale et politique française : jamais une telle peine n’avait été requise pour un ancien président de la République, décrit par les procureurs comme le « commandit…

Dressant « le tableau très sombre d’une partie de la République », le Parquet national financier a requis sept ans de prison ferme contre Nicolas Sarkozy au terme de près de trois jours de réquisitions dans l’affaire des financements libyens.

www.mediapart.fr/journal/fran...