Jacob Zenn consulted with the Swiss Embassy in Nigeria in 2015 on Boko Haram's

organizational structure ahead of negotiations with Boko Haram for the return of the

kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls. A result of this project was the release in two

exchanges in late 2016 and early 2017 of more than 100 of the girls. From

2014-2016 Zenn worked in Nigeria and Niger on EU countering violent extremism

(CVE) and stability programs. He has been studying Boko Haram since the start of

the insurgency in 2009 and his most recent academic article was titled "Boko

Haram's Conquest for the Caliphate: How Al Qaeda Helped Islamic State Acquire

Territory" (Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, February 2018). He also recently co-wrote

"Evolving Terror: The Development of Jihadist Operations Targeting Western Interests

in Africa", which was originally submitted to the Canadian Ministry of Defence

(Foundation for Defense of Democracies, February 2018). 

 

Zenn is a Fellow on African and Eurasian Affairs at The Jamestown Foundation in

Washington DC and an assistant adjunct professor at Georgetown University's

Security Studies Program, where he instructs a graduate course on Violent Non-State Actors in World Politics. Zenn graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 2011, where he was commended as a Global Law Scholar, and completed a Chinese-language graduate program in International Affairs at the Johns Hopkins SAIS Nanjing, China-based Center for Chinese and American Studies. .