There are concerns that poorly trained troops may exasperate the problem. Even among the elite units at the flintlock exercises, some trainers told me that these special forces from the region weren't really familiar with working on trust building with locals. But i think the biggest problem for these countries is just one of time. Improving the security forces will help a lot, but they don't have very much time at all to work on those kinds of responses before the violence is likely to escalate further.
With the propaganda machine at fever pitch, not everyone in Russia agrees on—much less agrees with—what is going on in Ukraine. Dissent is being met with increasing repression. A wave of jihadism is crashing across the states of West Africa and the battle lines are moving south. And reasons for both hope and concern in our annual glass-ceiling index.
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