ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the agents, multiple types, geography, and dynamics of political violence and protest. As Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED)-Africa covers North Africa in addition to all Sub-Saharan states; the chapter captures some of the relevant dynamics of the current crisis in Middle East and North Africa region, which has been ongoing since the Arab Spring. Conflict is becoming less deadly: the ratio of reported fatalities to events has even decreased for several especially violent countries, including South Sudan, Somalia, Sudan, the Central African Republic (CAR), and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In the CAR, Sudan, and Nigeria, civilian targeting comprised more than half of the reported organized, armed conflict events in 2014. In these types of events, including bombings, improvised explosive device (IED) attacks, and missile attacks, conflict engagement does not require the physical presence of the perpetrator. Riots and protests comprised 34 percent of all reported political conflict and social unrest events in Africa.
