Today

Strait and narrowing: the Houthis’ striking advance

After years of stalemate, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis are taking territory, including on a Red Sea strait. We ask what has changed, and how the shift fits into the wider regional conflict. As America’s midterm elections approach, we examine the fragmentation of the coalition that ... Show More

22m 46s

Sep 12

The Weekend Intelligence: Shire folk

For 15 years, the British media dismissed Tommy Robinson as a far-right extremist. We kept him off our televisions, and out of our newspapers. Today his rallies attract tens of thousands of followers and he has the ear of the world’s richest man.Shire Folk is the story of how som ... Show More

49m 13s

Sep 11

Out-numbered: AI’s contentious maths milestone

OpenAI’s claim to have solved one of the great problems in mathematics has itself created problems. We ask why the breakthrough has shaken the field. On the 25th anniversary of 9/11 we examine the vast counterterrorism machinery that followed in America, and nascent efforts to pa ... Show More

22m 49s

Oct 2023

The Intelligence: meeting Senegal’s president

As country after country in the Sahel has fallen prey to coups, President Macky Sall’s Senegal seemed an outpost of stability. Yet our correspondent finds him less than sanguine about democracy in the region. We sift through what little is known about “the Phantom”, the Hamas fig ... Show More

23m 50s

Sep 2023

The French disconnection: a retreat from Niger

President Emmanuel Macron’s <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/09/25/why-emmanuel-macron-is-pulling-french-troops-out-of-niger?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_showno ... Show More

21m 33s

Oct 2023

Coups make a comeback in Africa

Gideon talks to Comfort Ero, president of the International Crisis Group, about what’s behind the recent resurgence of military coups in the Sahel region. Clip: BBC Free links to read more on this topic:<a href="https://on.ft.com/3tFV ... Show More

26m 13s

Jan 2024

The Intelligence: Emmanuel override

Gabriel Attal, France’s youthful new prime minister, represents President Emmanuel Macron’s renewed push to pass policy reforms and to counter a resurgent far-right. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a landslide re-election of President Félix Tshisekedi has raised eyebrows ... Show More

21m 53s

Jan 2024

The Intelligence: the killing of a Hamas leader

Saleh al-Arouri has long been a high-priority target for Israel and his death could weaken the Palestinian militant group. However, it could also draw neighbouring Lebanon into the war in Gaza. As South Africa heads to the polls, the lack of alternatives to the ruling party are j ... Show More

22m 18s

Nov 2020

Sahel of a mess: France’s impossible peacekeeping mission

Jihadism is <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2020/10/15/malis-civilian-government-has-rather-a-lot-of-soldiers?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">g ... Show More

23m 1s

Oct 2023

Why is there so much instability in the Sahel?

Niger and Gabon are the latest countries in Africa's Sahel to experience military coups. But that’s not the only issue that is facing the area. Beverly Ochieng from BBC Monitoring in Nairobi explains why several countries in the region are among the worst on the Global Terrorism ... Show More

15m 53s

Nov 2022

Russia, France and the battle for influence in West Africa

President Macron this week announced that France's anti-jihadist military mission in the Sahel region of Africa has ended. The departure of troops from the former colonial power and the end of Operation Barkhane comes at a challenging time for the region which is in the grips of ... Show More

48m 57s

Feb 2024

What will it take to stop Senegal’s election protests?

Senegal’s President Macky Sall is coming under increasing pressure from West African leaders and the international community to reverse a decision to postpone the presidential election. He is accused of putting the country’s democratic path on to “a dead end”. We find out why som ... Show More

41m 30s

Aug 2023

Has democracy failed in the Sahel region?

“It is not cast in stone that a military junta is always bad. What if it’s the only thing that we have?” On the 26th of July 2023, a group of soldiers in Niger ousted president Mohamed Bazoum from power. His presidential guard commander general Abdourahamane Tchiani proclaimed hi ... Show More

16m 44s

The Intelligence: meeting Senegal’s pres...