James Barnett is a research fellow at Hudson Institute, based in Lagos, Nigeria, where he studies conflict, terrorism, and geopolitics in Africa. He has worked extensively in conflict environments across Nigeria, studied and traveled widely in East Africa and the Middle East, and reported from Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion.

His writing has appeared in publications such as Foreign Policy, New Lines Magazine, War on the Rocks, African Arguments, and the Los Angeles Review of Books as well as research journals such as West Point’s CTC Sentinel.

NOTES:

James Barnett's article on meeting the bandits: https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/the-bandit-warlords-of-nigeria/   James Barnett's study with Murtala Rufai and Abdulaziz Abdulaziz debunking the myth that bandits and jihadists are working closely together: https://ctc.usma.edu/northwestern-nigeria-a-jihadization-of-banditry-or-a-banditization-of-jihad/   The Trust TV documentary on banditry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3ywVlS8zGM