Note: This op-ed was originally published in Jeune Afrique and was authored by Justyna Gudzowska, executive director of The Sentry.   S’appuyer sur la Russie pour lutter contre le terrorisme a des conséquences désastreuses au Mali. En plus de se focaliser sur l’exploitation des ressources du pays – au premier rang desquels l’or malien – […]

Note: This op-ed was originally published in Foreign Policy and was authored by Justyna Gudzowska, executive director of The Sentry.   International oil companies are lining up to reenter Libya’s oil sector. Libya is currently rolling out its first bid round for new oil exploration and development in nearly two decades, and there appear to be many takers […]

Note: This op-ed was originally published in the New York Times and was coauthored by John Prendergast, Co-Founder of The Sentry, with Eric A. Friedman and Suad Abdel aziz. A Sudanese journalist, Muammar Ibrahim, stayed behind to document atrocities while thousands fled a genocidal blood bath in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur in Sudan. […]

Note: This essay was originally published in Foreign Policy and was authored by Sasha Lezhnev, a senior policy advisor at The Sentry, and John Prendergast, co-founder of The Sentry. In June, U.S. President Donald Trump hosted leaders from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda in the Oval Office to sign a peace deal, declaring, “Today, […]

Note: This essay was originally published in Newsweek and was authored by Sasha Lezhnev, a senior policy advisor at The Sentry, and John Prendergast, co-founder of The Sentry. As the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs heat up, there is much to be excited about regarding the league’s future. Television ratings are up, multiple young stars compete to be the […]

Note: This op-ed was originally published in Just Security and was authored by John Prendergast, Co-Founder of The Sentry.   Azerbaijan has recently moved to strike a peace deal with Armenia after violently recapturing the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023. But continued fighting between the two countries might be more likely than peace, and other […]

Note: This essay was originally published in Foreign Affairs and was authored by Justyna Gudzowska, Executive Director of The Sentry, and Laura Ferris, Director of Illicit Finance Policy at The Sentry.   In January 2020, the body of a beloved nature guide who had dedicated his life to protecting the monarch butterfly was found dead […]

Note: This op-ed was originally published in the St. Louis Business Journal and was authored by John Prendergast, Co-Founder of The Sentry, and Sasha Lezhnev, Senior Policy Advisor at The Sentry.   St. Louis is a vibrant community with myriad connections to Africa – Washington University’s 100-plus faculty members working in 36 African countries, Webster University’s Ghana campus, etc. That’s why […]

Note: This op-ed was originally published in Foreign Affairs and was authored by John Prendergast, Co-Founder of The Sentry, and Sasha Lezhnev, Senior Policy Advisor at The Sentry.   The Deadly Global Gold Rush How to Stop the Illicit Mining and Trade That Fuel War and Repression very year, illicit gold worth more than $30 billion […]

Note: This op-ed was originally published in Just Security and was authored by John Prendergast, Co-Founder of The Sentry. Published on March 28, 2025 In a recent court decision regarding a gold dealer sanctioned for contributing to conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the judge referenced Milton’s Paradise Lost, recounting that once the rebel angel Mammon had […]

Note: This op-ed was originally published in Foreign Affairs and was authored by John Prendergast, co-founder of The Sentry, and Anthony Lake, former National Security Adviser. The UAE’s Secret War in Sudan How International Pressure Can Stop the Genocidal Violence How International Pressure Can Stop the Genocidal Violence In the next four months, two and […]

Note: This op-ed was originally published in USA Today and was authored by John Prendergast, co-founder of The Sentry, and Don Cheadle, an actor and activist.   Every two hours, a child dies in Sudan. Our global silence is deafening. As it stands now, only the vultures – whether birds or war profiteers – are […]

Note: This op-ed was originally published in The Hill and was authored by John Prendergast, co-founder of The Sentry, and Anthony Lake, former national security advisor.   The flames of war are spreading in Sudan —the time for action is now   After strong bipartisan encouragement from members of Congress and civil society, the Biden administration has […]

Note: This op-ed was originally published in Foreign Affairs and was authored by John Prendergast, Co-Founder of The Sentry.   Dirty Money Is Destroying Sudan How America Can Stop Money Launderers From Funding Africa’s Worst Civil War   A humanitarian and human rights catastrophe is unfolding in Sudan. With nearly 11 million people already displaced—three […]

Note: This op-ed was originally published in Just Security and was authored by Michelle Kendler-Kretsch, Investigations Manager at The Sentry, and Anrike Visser, Senior Advisor on Illicit Finance Policy at The Sentry.   Baby on Board! How Kleptocrats and Associates Use Family Members to Evade Sanctions   When Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane crashed on Aug. 23, […]

Note: This op-ed originally published in The Economist and was written by The Sentry’s co-founders George Clooney and John Prendergast.  George Clooney and John Prendergast on how the West can kill the Wagner virus   Without stronger action, state capture in Africa and beyond will spread as the group mutates In the days since the […]

Note: This op-ed was originally published in Daily Maverick and was authored by Nick Donovan, Senior Investigator at The Sentry.   Zunaid Moti’s tsunami of spin secures judicial gagging order against investigative journalists   In an unprecedented attack on free speech, a South African court has ordered journalists at amaBhungane to stop reporting on the […]

Note: This op-ed was originally published in Just Security and was written by John Prendergast, Co-Founder of The Sentry, and Ernst Jan Hogendoorn, Senior Advisor to the U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan from 2019-2023.   On June 1, the Biden administration imposed financial sanctions on four companies associated with and generating income for the […]

Note: This op-ed originally published in The Hill and was written by John Prendergast, Co-Founder of The Sentry, and Brian Adeba, Deputy Director of Policy at The Sentry.   South Sudan is facing a cascade of chaos The unfolding cataclysm in Sudan will not be contained inside Sudan’s borders. In addition to cascading Sudanese refugee flows into […]

Note: This op-ed was originally published in Euractiv and written by Anrike Visser, Senior EU Advisor on Illicit Finance Policy for The Sentry.   Russian sanctions evasion shows circumvention is the biggest threat to Europe   On 10 March, chief European Union diplomat Joseph Borrell told Euractiv that the EU had nearly exhausted sanctions to counter Russia and […]