Hannah Rae Armstrong is a Dakar-based writer and policy adviser in peace and security research and advocacy in North Africa and the Sahel. During her ICWA fellowship (Sahel, 2012–2014), she focused on the region’s political and security dynamics. She went on to serve as a senior Sahel analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG), leading work from 2018 to 2021 on external actors, trafficking, insurgency dynamics and women’s roles in peacebuilding. Earlier, she oversaw the ICG’s work on Algeria and Western Sahara. She was also a visiting fellow with the Africa program at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Her writing and analyses have been published in major outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Le Monde, The Guardian, The Nation and Foreign Affairs. She received a research fellowship from the Fulbright Program (Morocco) and holds degrees from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and the New College of Florida.