ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION The trans-Saharan region of Africa forms an important strategic arc cutting across the bulk of West Africa-including the northern portion of Nigeria and southern Algeria-and stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. It is a place where Arab and African cultures begin to merge, of powerful and competing beliefs, and where tradition often clashes with modernity, making it one of the most contentious and conflict-prone areas of the world. Vast, ungoverned spaces; unsecured frontiers; large, uncontrolled population movements; extreme poverty; drought and the resulting famine; and persistent political and socioeconomic conflict are some of the defining characteristics of this region.
