James Barnett

Research Fellow

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At A Glance:

James Barnett is a research fellow at Hudson Institute, where he studies conflict, terrorism, and geopolitics in Africa.

 

Biography

James Barnett is a research fellow at Hudson Institute, where he studies conflict, terrorism, and geopolitics in Africa. He has extensive fieldwork experience, including in conflict environments across Nigeria and in Somalia, South Sudan, and Ukraine.

Mr. Barnett is also a research fellow with the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) in Abuja, Nigeria, and in 2021 he was a Fulbright research fellow at the University of Lagos for nine months. Additionally, in 2023, he served as a long-term analyst on the International Republican Institute-National Democratic Institute international election observation mission to Nigeria. Prior to joining Hudson, he held research or analyst positions with the United States Institute of Peace, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, and the American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project. He was also a 2016–17 Boren Scholar in Tanzania.

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. Along with Hudson fellows Eric Brown, Hillel Fradkin, and Husain Haqqani, he is an editor of Hudson Institute’s journal Current Trends in Islamist Ideology. He has also been interviewed by Agence France-Presse, Al Jazeera, Asharq, BBC News, Le Monde, Premium Times, and Voice of America, and he has testified before the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Mr. Barnett holds a BA with highest honors in history and Plan II from the University of Texas at Austin and an MA with distinction in war studies from King’s College London. He speaks Swahili, Arabic, and Spanish.

06
September 2024
Past Event
Geopolitical Implications of the Crisis between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Somalia
Featured Speakers:
Joshua Meservey
James Barnett
Mariam Wahba
Zineb Riboua
A member of the Ethiopian National Defense Force salutes during the 116th celebration of Ethiopian National Defense Force in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on October 26, 2023. (Photo by Amanuel Sileshi/AFP via Getty Images)
06
September 2024
Past Event
Geopolitical Implications of the Crisis between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Somalia

What are the origins of these conflicts? What are their geostrategic implications? And how does stability in the Horn of Africa affect American policy in the broader region? Join Hudson for an expert panel discussion on these questions.

A member of the Ethiopian National Defense Force salutes during the 116th celebration of Ethiopian National Defense Force in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on October 26, 2023. (Photo by Amanuel Sileshi/AFP via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Joshua Meservey
James Barnett
Mariam Wahba
Zineb Riboua
20
June 2024
Past Event
Exploring Ethiopia’s Tumultuous Transformation: A Discussion with Tom Gardner
Featured Speakers:
Tom Gardner
James Barnett
Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed on his official visit to the state house in Nairobi, Kenya, on February 28, 2024. (Photo by Luis Tato/AFP via Getty Images)
20
June 2024
Past Event
Exploring Ethiopia’s Tumultuous Transformation: A Discussion with Tom Gardner

The Economist’s Africa correspondent, Tom Gardner, joins Hudson Research Fellow James Barnett to discuss Gardner’s new book, The Abiy Project: God, Power and War in the New Ethiopia, and Ethiopia’s future in the volatile and strategically vital Red Sea region.

Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed on his official visit to the state house in Nairobi, Kenya, on February 28, 2024. (Photo by Luis Tato/AFP via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Tom Gardner
James Barnett
28
May 2024
Past Event
Facing the Future: A Discussion on Niger and West African Security Cooperation
Featured Speakers:
Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim
Malik Samuel
Aneliese Bernard
James Barnett
Moderator:
Jeremy Hunt
Nigerien soldiers stage a demonstration for the repeal of the military agreement that allows US military and civilian personnel to serve in the country on April 13, 2024. (Photo by Balima Boureima/Anadolu via Getty Images)
28
May 2024
Past Event
Facing the Future: A Discussion on Niger and West African Security Cooperation

West African security experts discuss the future of US counterterrorism operations in Niger and the Sahel region.

Nigerien soldiers stage a demonstration for the repeal of the military agreement that allows US military and civilian personnel to serve in the country on April 13, 2024. (Photo by Balima Boureima/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim
Malik Samuel
Aneliese Bernard
James Barnett
Moderator:
Jeremy Hunt
20
April 2023
Past Event
Evacuating Americans Trapped in Sudan
Featured Speakers:
James Barnett
Robert Greenway
Joshua Meservey
Sudanese army soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan on April 16, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)
20
April 2023
Past Event
Evacuating Americans Trapped in Sudan

Hudson Fellows James Barnett, Robert Greenway, and Joshua Meservey discuss the urgent need for a US-led effort to evacuate Americans and outline the principles and hazards that evacuation planners should keep in mind.

Sudanese army soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan on April 16, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
James Barnett
Robert Greenway
Joshua Meservey
20
December 2022
Past Event
Understanding Nigeria’s Pivotal 2023 Election
Featured Speakers:
Prof. Jibrin Ibrahim
Dr. Michael Nwankpa
Murtala Abdullahi
Moderator:
James Barnett
Understanding Nigeria’s Pivotal 2023 Election
20
December 2022
Past Event
Understanding Nigeria’s Pivotal 2023 Election

Please join Hudson Institute for a discussion with three of Nigeria’s leading researchers to understand what is at stake in the 2023 election and what implications this election will have for West Africa.

Understanding Nigeria’s Pivotal 2023 Election
Featured Speakers:
Prof. Jibrin Ibrahim
Dr. Michael Nwankpa
Murtala Abdullahi
Moderator:
James Barnett
11
April 2022
Past Event
Virtual Event | Reporting from the Frontline of the War in Ukraine
Featured Speakers:
James Barnett
Kenneth R. Weinstein
The administrative headquarters of Mykolaiv oblast destroyed from Russian missiles in Ukraine. (James Barnett)
11
April 2022
Past Event
Virtual Event | Reporting from the Frontline of the War in Ukraine

This event will premiere on this page at 12:00 p.m. EDT, Monday, April 11. Register for the event here.

The administrative headquarters of Mykolaiv oblast destroyed from Russian missiles in Ukraine. (James Barnett)
Featured Speakers:
James Barnett
Kenneth R. Weinstein
27
January 2021
Past Event
Virtual Event | The Future of U.S.-Nigeria Relations: A Conversation with Ambassador John Campbell
Featured Speakers:
Ambassador John Campbell
James Barnett
27
January 2021
Past Event
Virtual Event | The Future of U.S.-Nigeria Relations: A Conversation with Ambassador John Campbell

Nigeria, the “Giant of Africa,” is predicted to have the third-largest population in the world by the end of the century.

Featured Speakers:
Ambassador John Campbell
James Barnett
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with Senegalese President Macky Sall (L) during a meeting at the West lake State Guest House in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province on September 2, 2016 (IWASAKI MINORU/AFP via Getty Images)
Caption
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with Senegalese President Macky Sall (L) during a meeting at the West lake State Guest House in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province on September 2, 2016 (IWASAKI MINORU/AFP via Getty Images)
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Research Fellow
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