ABSTRACT
NATURE OF THE FLASH POINT Nigeria is one of the United States' most important strategic allies in Africa because of its size, large oil reserves, and central role in regional peacekeeping operations, yet instability plagues Africa's most populous country. Because of this growing internal instability, the country is both fertile ground for the radicalization of political Islam and a strategically attractive target for al Qaeda. Home to one out of every four Africans, Nigeria sits atop a wealth of natural resources and holds the key to stability in West Africa. The U.S. Energy Information
Administration has taken note of the deteriorating situation in Nigeria, citing unrest, political instability, and economic disparities as reasons for "violent crime, ethnic and religious strife," calling Nigeria one of its "world energy hotspots."' Nigeria's growing economic importance to the world, its struggle with a democratic transformation, and its fight against radicalizing political Islam make it an important test case for U.S. strategy and policy in the early twenty-first century in Africa.
