Dr Niagalé Bagayoko is a political scientist who has done extensive field research on security systems in African Francophone countries, security policies in Western countries (France, United States, European Union), and African conflict-management mechanisms, focusing on the interface between security and development. She has also investigated the European Union’s Security Policy decision-making processes. Bagayoko taught at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Science Po) in Paris and, from 2010 to 2015, she managed the Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding Programme at the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF). She is now a senior expert for the African Security Sector Network (ASSN), where she is coordinating the think tank African Societal Analysis.