New weapons mask fragile state of nations strong in air, weak on ground

Militants now strike infrastructure and mining routes, using small payloads to inflict outsized economic and psychological damage.

Photo credit: Reuters

Drones have not transformed Africa’s wars. They have only magnified the dilemmas of states built on shallow foundations. Entering these conflicts not as neutral tools but as boosters of fragility, drones extend reach in the air while exposing weakness on the ground.

From Sudan to Somalia and across the Sahel, they project the illusion of command. Sudan illustrates this most starkly.