By 2016, Boko Haram was not only ranked the 'most deadly' jihadi group in Africa, but also the world. On the verge of the 10-year anniversary of the group's launch of its jihad--which will be in 2019--Boko Haram rivals and in some ways has surpassed its jihadi counterparts in AQIM [al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb] in Algeria and the Sahel and al-Shabaab in Somalia and East Africa in tactical sophistication, lethality, and territory under its control. Boko Haram's learning curve has indisputably been fast. The loss of human life as a result of the insurgency is estimated at approximately 30,000 people. Boko Haram has devastated much of the countryside in northeastern Nigeria and neighboring regions of Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps are scattered across the border regions of these countries, and the task of returning IDPs to their homes has been as difficult as it has been dangerous. [...] In a conflict that has no easy answers and no solutions in sight, Boko Haram is already and will re-main one of Africa's enduring insurgencies. In order to better understand Boko Haram now and in the future, this report challenges some key misconceptions about the insurgency and provides new analyses and insights based on many exclusive primary source materials and datasets. It explores six areas that are increasingly important but under-researched about Boko Haram and ISWAP [Islamic State in West Africa Province]: ideology, gender, leadership, counterinsurgency, regional dynamics, and terrorist networks.
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