In the wake of reports of a Wagner Group plot in Chad, Washington should resist the urge to resurrect Cold War-era partnerships. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Russia’s Wagner Group is working with rebels in Chad to target the country’s transitional president, Mahamat Idriss Deby, who came to power by extra-constitutional means when his father was killed in 2021. The plot paints a picture of an ambitious Russian strategy to gain influence in a block...

When it comes to civil liberties in Africa, Western governments and institutions must put their monies where their mouths are. A marked disjuncture between the consolidation of democratic forms and the affirmation of civil liberties is one of the many paradoxes of Africa’s democratic evolution. On the whole, the sphere of individual liberty has shrunk in tandem with undeniable progress in formal institutionalization. The more regular elections have become, for instance, the less free the...