Jeremy Keenan

Jeremy Keenan (born 1945) is a British social anthropologist. He is a professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London. The regional focuses of his research are the Sahara, North Africa and the Sahel region. Concerning the contents, he concentrates on anthropology of development, security and globalisation.^[1] During the last years, he has published a number of books and articles about the approaches of the United States to counter terrorism in Africa.^[2]

Keenan has long argued that Islamist terror groups in North Africa are masterminded by Algeria, with the knowledge of the CIA and other intelligence services, which stage "false flag" attacks to expand Algerian and US political influence over the region and its economic resources.^[3] In his book "The Dark Sahara", Keenan accuses the United States and Algeria of having conspired to fabricate evidence and exaggerate the threat of al-Qaeda terrorism in Northern Africa. He calls the "global war on terror" a deception and claims that it is causing immense damage to the peoples of the Sahara, namely the Tuareg.^[4][5]

On 22 May 2012, he alleged in a BBC interview that the Algerian government (despite being officially secular) was backing Ansar Dine, both because Ansar Dine justified the existence of the government's security apparatus, and because backing it allowed Algeria to "project power in what it sees as its sphere of influence".^[6]

Works

• The Tuareg: People of Ahaggar, Allen Lane, 1977
• Sahara Man: Travelling with the Tuareg, John Murray Publishers, 2001
• The Lesser Gods of the Sahara: Social Change and Contested Terrain Amongst the Tuareg of Algeria, Frank Cass Publishers, 2004
• The Dark Sahara: America's War on Terror in Africa, Pluto Press, 2009^[7]
• The Dying Sahara: US Imperialism and Terror in Africa, Pluto Press, 2012

References

1. Professor Jeremy Keenan, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, retrieved on 14 April 2012
2. Chan, Stephen (Spring 2010), "Introduction to 'The origins of AFRICOM: the Obama administration, the Sahara-Sahel and US Militarization of Africa'", Concerned Africa Scholars (85): 85
3. Menas Associates; Algeria Politics & Security weekly reports; http://www.menas.co.uk/politics_and_security/algeria/home.aspx
4. Sammut, Dennis (20 January 2010), "Review of Jeremy Keenan's 'The Dark Sahara: America's War on Terror in Africa'", Pambazuka News (466)
5. Brody, Hugh (8 October 2011), "Gaddafi and the Tuareg, the "Lords of the desert"", Open Democracy
6. Robin Banerji (22 May 2012). "Life in Timbuktu under Islamist rule". BBC.
7. Volman, D. (2010). The Dark Sahara: America's War on Terror in Africa (review). African Studies Review, 26 June 52, 3, 181–182.