James Courtright explored how Fulani societies across West Africa—the largest pastoralist community in the world—are responding to climate change, discriminatory governments, increasing jihadist activity and evolving dynamics within Fulani societies. James grew up between East Africa and the United States. He graduated from Denison University in 2012 and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kolda, Senegal for three years during which he lived with a Fulani family and worked in community agriculture. He then moved to Dakar and wrote about human rights, the environment and migration for NPR, The Christian Science Monitor and Roads & Kingdoms, among other publications. He graduated from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs in May 2020 with a concentration in Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy, after which he returned to West Africa to work with Gambian civil society alongside the country’s truth commission.
Dispatches from James Courtright
Clingendael: James Courtright on cattle rustling and smuggling
“Cattle Wahala: How Ghana, Burkina Faso and Togo can jointly address the political economy of cattle rustling and smuggling in the tri-border region,” by James Courtright (West Africa, 2021-2023) and Kars de Bruijne, Clingendael, July 8, 2025Clingendael: James Courtright on democracy in Ghana
“Ghana: a beacon of democracy?” by James Courtright (West Africa, 2021-2023), Kars de Bruijne and Grace Ellis, Clingendael, July, 2024
West Africa’s gold mines are more organized than you might think
Millennium-old institutions and beliefs bring order to places usually associated with chaos and violence.