I have recently participated to a very interesting conference organised by the Afro-Middle East Centre in Pretoria, South Africa (5-6 November 2013). The conference was titled "In whose interests? Exploring Middle East Involvement in Africa"
The theme of the conference was the political-economical involvement of Middle East in Africa in a broad sense. A very fresh topic since much of what has been dealt with during the conference are on-going phenomena. My contribution focused on Saudi Arabia's agenda: however, I have decided to focus on those which I have called side effects, to show that cooperation has also its dark, unpredictable aspects that we have to take into account. In my provisional paper, I have thus analysed the link existing between Saudi involvement and the rise of Islamism in Somalia and Mali.
Have a look to my paper: "Exploiting the religious link: Saudi Agenda in Africa and its impact in Somalia and Mali", if you like, here:
