DCP-2015-U-010096-Final
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3003 Washington Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201 703-824-2000 cna.org
CNA Small Group Discussion:
Aiding Cameroon’s Effort to Counter Boko Haram
Arlington, VA, February 18, 2015
Rapporteur: Alexander Powell
Introduction
On Wednesday, February 18, 2015, CNA convened a small group meeting to discuss Cameroon’s efforts to
counter the revolutionary insurgent group Boko Haram and what the United States can do to aid these
efforts.
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Participants included key stakeholders from United States government (USG) agencies, think
tanks, and international agencies. The meeting was held under the Chatham House rule of non-attribution to
allow for a candid discussion among participants.
As the group Boko Haram continues to wreak havoc inside Nigeria, it has also been launching attacks and
raids into neighboring countries, Cameroon chief among them. Cameroon has been increasingly drawn into
the conflict and in 2014 deployed troops to its north to protect its border region. However, this action alone
has not quelled the threat of Boko Haram to Cameroon, and the United States has found itself devoting
more time and resources to assist in countering this group. The purpose of this small group meeting was to
explore further avenues of U.S. support to Cameroon for countering Boko Haram.
Background
Since 2009, Boko Haram has waged a campaign of violence and intimidation in Nigeria, mostly in the
country’s northeast. Thousands of civilians have been killed, and the pace of violence seems to have
increased in recent months. The government of Nigeria has seen the conflict as a terrorism issue, and has
relied on a narrow, largely military response. Despite its efforts to quell the rising tide of violence, it has
thus far been erratic and less than effective in combating Boko Haram. CNA’s analysis (with which the
small group participants agreed) is that the Boko Haram conflict is an insurgency requiring a broad-based,
whole-of-government response that addresses the conflict’s underlying economic, political, and social root
causes. Because Nigeria seems reluctant to take that approach and because Boko Haram has been launching
attacks and raids into neighboring countries, two recently completed CNA studies, Rethinking the U.S.
Approach to Boko Haram: The Case for a Regional Strategy and Diagnosing the Boko Haram Conflict:
Grievances, Motivations, and Institutional Resilience in Northeast Nigeria, recommended that the United
States focus on supporting a regional approach to the conflict that would include Nigeria’s neighbors.
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The Nature of Boko Haram as an Organization
Boko Haram is often characterized as being Kanuri, referring to the ethnic group living largely in the lands
of the former Kanem-Bornu Empire in northeast Nigeria, southeast Niger, western Chad, and northern
Cameroon (an area now referred to as the Lake Chad Basin region). However, several participants
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This document contains the best opinion of the author(s) at the time of issue. It does not necessarily represent the opinion of CNA
or the Department of the Navy. Specific authority: N00014-11-D-0323. Distribution unlimited.
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J. McQuaid et al., Rethinking the U.S. Approach to Boko Haram: The Case for a Regional Strategy, CNA Corporation, DRM-
2014-U-009462-Final, Feb. 2015; and P. Asfura-Heim et al., Diagnosing the Boko Haram Conflict: Grievances, Motivations, and
Institutional Resilience in Northeast Nigeria, CNA Corporation, DOP-2014-U-009272-Final, Jan. 2015.
