It is essential for Europe and the West to fight Islamic fundamentalism in Africa

Western countries fear the growth of radical Islamic movements in Africa, where episodes of violence have grown with a very significant increase, which counted about 5,000 attacks with over 13,000 victims, last year alone. The displacement of extremist formations, such as the Islamic State, from Asian countries, such as Syria and Iraq, where the phenomenon is practically under control, to African countries, following a path from east to west, places large parts of the African continent under close observation. also due to its relative proximity to Europe and the obvious contacts with issues such as emigration and energy supply, which are increasingly at the center of European problems. It should not be forgotten how, on the issue of emigration, the continuous disagreements between the members of the European Union can be exploited as a destabilizing factor by Islamic fundamentalists, increasingly allies of the gangs of human traffickers, both as a capacity to manage flows, and the introduction in Europe of potential agents capable of carrying out attacks. If the first countries threatened by these new developments, in the immediate future, are Italy and Spain, it is obvious that an inability of global management on the part of Europe affects the old continent, still very divided on the possible solutions to the issue. . The new American administration is very sensitive to this issue, because it bases its Atlantic leadership on collaboration with Europe and considers the security of the old continent to be a central topic of its geopolitical strategy. Probably Washington, internally, does not want to repeat the errors of assessment made by Obama, with the Syrian war and intends to prevent a military development of Islamist formations in Africa, where, moreover, they are already present and active, to prevent the opening of a a new front of commitment and, above all, of jeopardizing European security, which would imply an even greater effort for the USA. Currently the crucial geographical point is the Shael, where the presence of fundamentalists is favored by a scarce presence of the government forces of the various countries that govern the area, in addition to the physical conformation of the territory, which allows extreme freedom of movement for the Islamist militias. The spread of the pandemic has also favored the activity of fundamentalists, slowing down diplomatic meetings for the solution of the problem, however the assurance of collaboration in the fight against Islamic terrorism of the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritania and Yemen, represents a further guarantee that the problem is perceived at the supra-continental level as urgent and very dangerous. The law enforcement activity cannot fail to provide for a commitment on the field, but on this front the European countries are reluctant to engage their own personnel directly on African soil, rather a choice of intelligence operations is preferred, able to anticipate the moves terrorists and, above all, blocking the funding of fundamentalist groups. However, this approach appears to be only part of the possible solution to the problem: in fact, without a direct military conflict, it appears difficult to overcome the problem entirely, also because the physical presence of the terrorist formations, on the one hand, succeeds in proselytizing the populations of the area and with those who fail to integrate a regime of terror, which, in any case, represents a strong point in the garrison of the territory. The challenge for Westerners is to know how to involve the armies of the countries of the Shael belt, at least with funding, military supplies and the training of regular troops; certainly the funding will have to concern not only the military aspect but also, and in a substantial way, everything that may concern the development of the countries involved, in terms of infrastructures, medical facilities and development of the productive sectors. The African question, long postponed by Western countries, thus reappears in the form of urgency which has as its purpose the very security of Europe and the West, but is, at the same time, an opportunity for global development that cannot be wasted, also to wrest Africa from a Chinese influence, now badly tolerated by the Africans themselves.