Counter-revolution, Autocracy, and Stability in Egypt in 2014

Africa, Civilians At Risk, Current Hotspots, Focus On Militias, Islamist Violence, Remote Violence, Rioting And Protests, Violence Against Civilians
The most significant trend witnessed throughout 2014 in Egypt was the dramatic decline of riot and protest events nationwide (see Figure 1). Sweeping detentions of Muslim Brotherhood supporters, unconstitutional civilian and military trials, and the introduction of legislation that curtails representation has seen Egypt slip into a counter-revolution reminiscent of past regimes under Mubarak in the late 1980s, and Nasser’s government in the 1950’s (Origins, July 2014).…

A Review of Libya in 2014

Africa, Analysis, Civilians At Risk, Current Hotspots, Focus On Militias, Governance, Islamist Violence, Remote Violence, Rioting And Protests, Violence Against Civilians
Libya was the fourth most active and the sixth most violent country in the ACLED dataset with 2383 reported fatalities from battles and remote violence in 2014. The deterioration of security in Libya throughout 2014 has been characterized by a myriad of factional armed groups with complex competing claims and two divided governments mobilizing competing narratives in the pursuit of ‘political legitimacy’.…

State Policy, Political Opportunity and Phases of Contentious Political Activity in Egypt

Africa, Analysis, Civilians At Risk, Ethnic Militias, Focus On Militias, Political Stability, Pro-Government Militias, Rioting And Protests, Vigilante Militias, Violence Against Civilians
A cursory glance at Egypt’s conflict landscape from the beginning of the revolutionary uprising would infer that overall, riots and protests have followed an upward trajectory with increased participation, mobilisation and dissent against the regime (see Figure 1).…

Tensions among soldiers in Ivory Coast

Africa, Civilians At Risk, Focus On Militias, Governance, Rioting And Protests, Violence Against Civilians
Contrary to the recent tensions in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast has experienced a period of relative stability in 2014. With the exception of an outbreak of violence in May 2014, when pro-Gbagbo militia fighters stormed the South-western village of Fetai killing three soldiers and ten civilians (Aboa, 2014), overall conflict levels and intensity have remained relatively low throughout much of the year.…

Terrorism: A review of differences in definition

Africa, Civilians At Risk, Focus On Militias, Political Stability, Rioting And Protests, Unidentified Armed Groups, Violence Against Civilians
The existence of multiple, contrasting and even contradictory definitions and conceptualisations of terrorism in policy, legal frameworks and academic research is well-documented. The plethora of competing legal definitions has been likened to the Bermuda Triangle (Dedeoglu, 2003), and attempts to develop consensus around a single one, to ‘the quest for the Holy Grail’ (Levitt, 1986).…

A Review of Research Using ACLED in 2014

Africa, Civilians At Risk, Focus On Militias, Political Stability, Resources
ACLED exists as an open-source tool to aid research into conflict dynamics and political violence. Certain traits of ACLED make the dataset especially suited to fine-grained micro-level analysis. Below are a selection of research papers published this year which have used ACLED; articles are chosen based on how certain traits of the ACLED enabled the authors to carry out their research.…