The twenty-first century began with a promise of stability in Africa through alliances with the West. However, two decades later, the region has fallen into a state of geopolitical chaos in which the West losing influence. In an unexpected twist, Russia, China and several non-state role-players, including the Wagner Group, have been filling the vacuum, unleashing new tensions and threats which the West failed to anticipate.

From coups d’état in the Sahel region to the spread of armed militias, in “The West’s Failure in Africa” (the original title of which is “El fracaso de Occidente en África,” published by Almuzara) journalist and researcher Beatriz Mesa analyzes how the failed strategies of the United States, France and the European Union not only proved unable to create stability, but also opened the door to competitors in a way that challenges the global balance. As Wagner’s mercenaries seize strategic zones and African natural resources become tools of international influence, the world is now facing a new paradigm of power.

Having spent over two decades covering some of the Sahel’s most dangerous conflicts, Beatriz Mesa provides us with an insightful and revealing analysis of the West’s decline in Africa and the major implications this holds in terms of global security. Western hegemony is at risk, and new powers are redefining the rules. How could the West have failed to foresee this?

This will be the focus of the talk by author Beatriz Mesa, along with Ángel Losada, Spain’s former Ambassador to the Special Mission for the Sahel. The event will be moderated by Olivia Orozco, Casa Árabe’s Training and Economics Coordinator.

Beatriz Mesa holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Grenoble Alpes, France (2017), having completed her doctoral thesis on “The transformational role of armed secessionist and jihadist groups among organized crime role-players in the Sahel.” She currently holds a position as associate professor at the International University of Rabat (UIR) in the Political Science and International Relations Department. She combines her teaching activity with her work as a correspondent for the Cope radio network, as well as contributing to other media to provide coverage for North Africa and the Sahel from her home base in Rabat. Her lines of research since 2007 have focused on the countries in North Africa, West Africa and the Sahel, particularly Mauritania, Libya, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Niger and Guinea- Bissau: geostrategics, geopolitics in Africa, critical security, conflicts, peacekeeping operations, terrorism, political violence, organized crime, borders and immigration are topics which she examines.

Ángel Losada has been a Spanish diplomat since 1984. With a bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Navarre, he began his professional career at NATO, right at the time of Spain’s entry into that organization. He was posted at the Spain’s diplomatic missions in Ethiopia and Chile, as well as the United Nations in Geneva. He has served as Spain’s Ambassador on Special Mission in the Command Structure of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan - ISAF (August 2004); Ambassador of Spain to Nigeria (January 2006-February 2011) and Ambassador of Spain to Kuwait (2011-2014). After serving as the European Union’s Special Representative for Libya and the Sahel (2014-2015), he was named Ambassador of Spain to Iran (2022) before retiring.