Author Archives: Mette Kaalby Vestergaard

Mette Kaalby Vestergaard holds a MSc. in International Security and Law from University of Southern Denmark and an undergraduate degree in Market and Management Anthropology. She has basic military training, acquaintance with teaching and experience from a peace building NGO in Ghana, where she worked with early warning systems in West Africa. Her research focus is on Sub-Saharan Africa and cross-border conflict dynamics and subsequent risk analysis. Additionally she provides research on topics such as genocide prevention, peace building, R2P, cultural conflicts, civil-military collaboration and military operations.

Jihadists in Mozambique: Where did they come from and how did it happen?

Mette Kaalby Vestergaard December 29, 2020 Counter-Extremism, Latest Articles, Sub-Saharan Africa

Developing peacefully compared to some of its African neighbors in the 1990s, Mozambique was considered by many to be a bastion of continental progress. However, November 2020 witnessed a horrific attack which led to the beheading of over 50 people by Islamist militants. This assault was the most serious incident yet in a Jihadist campaign that has been waged in the north of the country over the last three years.

Intelligence war in the Sahel and Confrontations with Non-combatant Immunity

Mette Kaalby Vestergaard November 10, 2020 Africa, Global Governance and Human Rights, Latest Articles, Security and Defence

The legal debate around the position of civilians in the combatant landscape can both have consequences for the rights of the individuals in question, and also for the legitimacy of the intervention by Western forces in the Sahel.

Mass Atrocity Threat in Cameroon: Assessment and Consequences of Ethnic Discourses

Mette Kaalby Vestergaard October 13, 2020 Africa, Global Governance and Human Rights, Latest Articles

The 1994 Rwandan genocide is the most famous example of the power of language. This linguistic parallel between Cameroon and Rwanda is worrying, considering their similar history of discrimination patterns, human rights abuses and political exclusion of minority groups.