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United States Institute of Peace

Joseph Sany, Ph.D.

Vice President, Africa Center

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Dr. Joseph Sany joins USIP as the vice president of the newly established Africa Center. Dr. Sany has been working at the forefront of peacebuilding with civil society, governments, businesses, and international organizations in Africa for over 20 years.

In his most recent role at FHI 360, Dr. Sany provided technical leadership in the design and implementation of multi-year, multi-million-dollar peacebuilding and civil society development programs in several countries in Africa and Asia. He led the organizational and institutional capacity development strategy of many civil society organizations in Africa. He also advised the design, implementation, and dissemination of the annual USAID Civil Society Sustainability Index that assesses the civil society sector and operating environment in 75 countries, including 32 in Africa.

Prior to his work at FHI 360, Dr. Sany advised international organizations and development agencies including the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, USAID missions, and the Economic Community of Central African States on peacebuilding and development strategies. He led several peacebuilding and civil society program assessment and evaluation missions in more than 20 countries in Africa. In addition, he has worked with USIP staff to expand and establish the U.S. State Department-funded USIP/ African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance program as a gold standard of civilian-led pre-deployment curriculum training on the continent. Sany has a rich experience moderating high-level, multi-stakeholder policy dialogues and collaborative actions at the national level in several countries in Africa, including Djibouti, Mali, and Senegal, among others.

Dr. Sany has researched, taught peacebuilding courses, and published scholarly articles on peacekeeping, peacebuilding, and civil society, including the book, “Reintegration of Ex-Combatants: A Balancing Act.” He currently writes about African development and politics in the blog African Praxis. He is fluent in English, French, and West African Pidgin English and holds a doctorate in public policy and a master's in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University.

Publications By Joseph

How to Respond to Niger’s Coup — and Prevent the Next One

How to Respond to Niger’s Coup — and Prevent the Next One

Thursday, August 10, 2023

By: Joseph Sany, Ph.D.

Military officers in Niger are rushing to consolidate the power they seized 15 days ago, while West Africa’s elected governments and regional institutions are seeking ways to reverse the July 27 coup d’état. Niger’s coup seems a particular setback for democracy, completing a six-nation belt of military regimes across Africa’s Sahel region. Amid this uncertain power struggle, how can the world support Africans’ demonstrated demand for elected, democratic governance that meets their peoples’ needs? We should begin by hewing to several basic principles. One is to keep our responses to coups coherent — but not uniform. Niger’s coup is distinct; our response must be as well.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

Russia’s Wagner Uprising Will Force a Kremlin Reshuffle in Africa

Russia’s Wagner Uprising Will Force a Kremlin Reshuffle in Africa

Thursday, July 13, 2023

By: Heather Ashby, Ph.D.;  Joseph Sany, Ph.D.

Three weeks after Russia’s Wagner Group mounted an armed uprising against authorities in Moscow, the still-swirling fallout will force changes in the mercenary group’s operations in Africa. The open outbreak of conflict among rival armed factions that Vladimir Putin sponsors as props of his autocratic regime will now force him to find new managers for his strategy of seeking influence and resources through strongmen and warlords in unstable African countries. These developments open an opportunity for Africans and the West to better illuminate Russia’s corrupt, often brutal methods in Africa, and their consequences.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

Sudan’s Crisis Offers New Lessons for Building Peace in the Sahel

Sudan’s Crisis Offers New Lessons for Building Peace in the Sahel

Thursday, May 25, 2023

By: Joseph Sany, Ph.D.;  Susan Stigant

Sudan’s five-week war has killed or wounded over 5,000 people, uprooted a million more — and reignited understandable frustrations over how U.S. and international policies can better prevent or respond to such upheavals. Amid heated policy debates, we should step back briefly to pinpoint lessons from this crisis that can improve our responses in Sudan and across the Sahel’s web of coups, insurgencies and extremism. Indeed, that task is urgent — both to address the complex evolutions in the region’s crises and to build support for smarter, steadier engagement, rather than a self-defeating retreat from the Sahel by global partners seeking democracy and stability.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Civilian-Military Relations;  Democracy & Governance

In Africa, Here’s How to Respond to Russia’s Brutal Wagner Group

In Africa, Here’s How to Respond to Russia’s Brutal Wagner Group

Thursday, April 6, 2023

By: Joseph Sany, Ph.D.

The United States is rightly concerned at the growing role in Africa of Russia’s Wagner Group, which operates as an auxiliary of President Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian regime. Where African governments have asked Wagner for security assistance, the group deploys military, economic and political interventions that deepen violence, corruption and authoritarian governance. Wagner’s role disrupts Africans’ efforts to move their countries from violent conflict to stability. Yet many Western responses are ineffective, even playing into Kremlin messaging to Africa and the Global South. An effective alternative requires that we listen to Africans’ voices and respond based on our shared values.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

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