John Campbell and Matthew Page provide an overview of the politics, history, and culture of Nigeria, including the threat of Boko Haram and religious conflicts.
About the Expert
Expert Bio
John Campbell is the Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa policy studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC. He is the coauthor, along with Matthew Page, of Nigeria: What Everyone Needs to Know, which was published in July 2018. From 1975 to 2007, Campbell served as a U.S. Department of State Foreign Service officer. He served twice in Nigeria, as political counselor from 1988 to 1990, and as ambassador from 2004 to 2007. Campbell's additional overseas postings include Lyon, Paris, Geneva, and Pretoria. He also served as deputy assistant secretary for human resources, dean of the Foreign Service Institute's School of Language Studies, and director of the Office of UN Political Affairs.
From 2007 to 2008, he was a visiting professor of international relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was also a Department of State mid-career fellow at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Prior to his career in the Foreign Service, he taught British and French history at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia.
Campbell has also written Morning in South Africa, which came out in May 2016 and Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink, the second edition of which was released in June 2013. He writes the blog Africa in Transition and edits both the Nigeria Security Tracker and the Sub-Saharan Security Tracker.
Campbell received a BA and MA in history from the University of Virginia and a PhD in seventeenth-century English history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Affiliations:
American Academy of Diplomacy, fellow
American University of Nigeria, executive committee of the board
The Washington Institute for Foreign Affairs, member
Featured
President Jacob Zuma’s cabinet reshuffle has exposed growing fissures within the ruling African National Congress, writes CFR’s John Campbell.
The terror group Boko Haram is diminished but far from vanquished in Nigeria, and it appears to be expanding its regional reach, writes CFR’s John Campbell.
In Morning in South Africa, John Campbell provides an incisive and deeply informed introduction to post-apartheid South Africa.
Current Projects
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Alexander J. Thurston, Olufemi O. Vaughan, and John Campbell discuss how Christianity and Islam coexist in Nigeria.
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John Campbell discusses 'Morning in South Africa', his new book that introduces post-apartheid South Africa to an international audience and argues that South Africa’s future is bright and that its democratic institutions will weather its current lackluster governance.
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Experts discuss the post-election outlook for the state of Nigeria.
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CFR fellows discuss the recent Ebola outbreak in western Africa and its effect on the region.
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Please join us for a discussion and cocktail reception for a new Council on Foreign Relations book, Pathways to Freedom (to be released on June 18, 2013).With contributions from several CFR Fellows, the book offers an authoritative and accessible look at what countries must do to build durable and prosperous democracies—and what the United States and others can do to help. Through case studies on Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, South Africa, Thailand, and Ukraine, Pathways to Freedom explores the structural factors and policy choices that shaped eight important transitions—some successful, others less so. The case studies focus on six themes: socioeconomic inclusion and exclusion, economic structure and policies, civil society and media, legal system and rule of law, government structure, and education and demography. *Members may bring a guest to this event.
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