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The Southern Meridian / Section
Security
Conflict, peacekeeping, AU, SADC and ECOWAS diplomacy, and migration.
- Explainer
How a security pact reshapes who answers to whom
Three neighbours are rebuilding their alliances. The chain of command is the real subject.
- Analysis
What envoys can do without leverage
Peace talks need more than goodwill. A closer look at what gives a mediator real weight.
- Brief
What follows when a peacekeeping mandate expires
When a mission leaves, the gap it fills tends to be political before it is military.
- In Numbers
What a border costs the traders who cross it
Informal trade is huge and badly counted. This is what the numbers can and cannot tell us.
- Profile
The envoy who keeps showing up
Long mediations are won by people who do not leave. A profile of the craft.
- Brief
The message beneath a naval exercise
Joint drills are rehearsals for diplomacy as much as for defence.
- Brief
The rise of the regional power pool
Neighbours are trading electricity across borders, and politics decides when the switch flips.
- Deep Dive
How fragile peace is made to hold
A long read on the slow work of disarmament, trust and the economics of staying peaceful.