This book examines the dynamics of securitisation in Burkina Faso and challenges the Eurocentric foundations of contemporary securitisation theory. Focusing on the country's military juntas between 2022 and 2024, it explores how security narratives have been used to justify political authority, shape state practices, and affect civilian populations.

Drawing on a decolonial perspective, the book shifts attention away from external actors and great-power interventions to indigenous securitising processes in the Central Sahel. It analyses the historical roots of Burkina Faso's insecurity crisis, the practices of successive junta governments, and the consequences of securitisation for civil liberties and civilian protection.

By bringing African experiences and perspectives to the centre of the analysis, this study offers a significant contribution to security studies, African politics, and International Relations. It will be of interest to scholars and students working on securitisation, decolonial approaches, the Sahel, security governance, and contemporary African politics.

Samuele Minelli Zuffa is a Visiting Research Fellow at Dublin City University (DCU) collaborating with Prof. Christian Kaunert. Currently based in Dakar, he serves as a Security and Intelligence analyst with extensive professional experience at world-leading research centres in peace and conflict studies, including the International Crisis Group and the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). Samuele graduated with distinction from the Erasmus Mundus International Master’s in Security, Intelligence, and Strategic Studies (IMSISS)—a prestigious program jointly offered by the University of Glasgow, DCU, Charles University (Univerzita Karlova), Trento University, and OTH Regensburg—and holds a cum laude bachelor’s degree from the University of Bologna. Over the past two years, he has published over 30 analytical articles blending qualitative insights with geospatial analysis. His research focuses on the political and violent dynamics in the Central Sahel, critically evaluating European security engagements, civilian targeting, and securitisation theory using mixed methodologies, including Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. His fieldwork and professional postings have taken him to Africa five times, including extensive periods in Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal.

Prof. Dr. Christian Kaunert is Professor of International Security at Dublin City University (DCU) and  Professor of Policing and Security, Director of the International Centre for Policing and Security, and Research and Innovation Leader for Criminology, Policing and Security at the University of South Wales. Previously, he served as Academic Director at the Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Professor of International Politics at the University of Dundee, where he directed the European Institute for Security and Justice (a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence). A globally recognised expert, he has been an invited specialist for the European Parliament, NATO, the EU Institute for Security Studies, and the UNDP.Prof. Kaunert has been awarded ten Marie Curie Fellowships, five Jean Monnet Chairs, and a Horizon 2020 research grant (Mindb4Act) and a Marie Curie Doctoral Training Network EUGLOCTER, as well as a Jean Monnet Network EUCTER and a large Jean Monnet Network EU-India. He is currently the Editor of the Journal of Contemporary European Studies and European Politics and Society. He holds a PhD in International Politics and an MSc from the University of Wales Aberystwyth, alongside a BA (Hons) from DCU.

Dr. Souleymane Yameogo is a political scientist whose research explores how insecurity, political violence, and authoritarian rule reshape democratic legitimacy, political representation, and citizen–state relations in Africa. He is a Research Associate on an ERC-funded project on democratic politics at the University of Glasgow and an Honorary Fellow at the Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh. Dr. Yameogo uniquely combines first-hand experience in democratic mobilisation with rigorous quantitative research. He co-founded Balai Citoyen (Civic Broom), one of West Africa's most influential pro-democracy civic movements, which played a central role in the 2014 popular uprising that ended the 27-year rule of President Blaise Compaoré in Burkina Faso. His academic work leverages comparative public opinion, survey experiments, online randomised controlled trials, causal inference, and spatial analysis to study democratic resilience. His research is published in top-tier international journals, including Social Forces, Political Science Research and Methods, and the Journal of Conflict Resolution. He holds a PhD and a Master of Public Policy from the KDI School of Public Policy and Management.