Introduction

Background

Chad originated from a series of dominant states that governed the Sahel region beginning around the 9th century. These states aimed to dominate trans-Saharan trade routes, gaining significant profits, particularly from the slave trade. The Kanem-Bornu Empire, which was based around the Lake Chad Basin, thrived from the 9th to the 19th centuries, and at its zenith, the empire encompassed lands from southern Chad to southern Libya, including parts of present-day Algeria, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, and Sudan. In the late 19th century, the Sudanese warlord Rabih AZ-ZUBAYR utilized an army mainly composed of slaves to seize control of the Kanem-Bornu Empire. In the southeastern region of Chad, the Bagirmi and Ouaddai (Wadai) kingdoms emerged in the 15th and 16th centuries, enduring until the French colonial presence established itself in the 19th and 20th centuries. France began its incursion into the area in the late 1880s, defeating the Bagirmi kingdom in 1897, Rabih AZ-ZUBAYR in 1900, and the Ouaddai kingdom in 1909. In the dry northern areas of Chad and southern Libya, an Islamic order known as the Sanusiyya (Sanusi) heavily depended on the trans-Saharan slave trade, boasting more than 3 million adherents by the 1880s. The French forces vanquished the Sanusiyya in 1910 following years of sporadic conflict. By 1910, France had integrated the northern dry region, the Lake Chad Basin, and southeastern Chad into French Equatorial Africa.

Chad attained its independence in 1960, subsequently enduring three decades marked by instability, oppressive governance, civil conflict, and a Libyan invasion. With assistance from the French military and several African nations, Chadian leaders successfully ousted Libyan troops during the 1987 "Toyota War," named for the use of Toyota pickup trucks as combat vehicles. In 1990, Chadian general Idriss DEBY orchestrated a revolt against President Hissene HABRE. Under DEBY's leadership, Chad adopted a constitution and conducted elections in 1996. Shortly after DEBY's death during a rebel attack in 2021, a cadre of military officials, spearheaded by DEBY’s son, Mahamat Idriss DEBY, assumed control of the government. These military leaders dissolved the National Assembly, suspended the Constitution, and established a Transitional Military Council (TMC), vowing to conduct democratic elections by October 2022. A national dialogue held from August to October 2022 resulted in agreements to prolong the transition for up to two years, disband the TMC, and appoint Mahamat DEBY as Transitional President; the transitional authorities organized a constitutional referendum in December 2023, claiming that 86 percent of voters supported the new constitution. Plans have been announced by the transitional authorities to hold elections by October 2024.

Chad has struggled with widespread poverty, an economy severely affected by fluctuating international oil prices, insurgencies led by terrorists in the Lake Chad Basin, and multiple revolts in northern and eastern Chad. In 2015, the government declared a state of emergency in the Lake Chad Basin following a series of attacks by the terrorist organization Boko Haram, now referred to as ISIS-West Africa. That same year, Boko Haram executed bombings in N'Djamena. In 2019, the Chadian government also proclaimed a state of emergency in the Sila and Ouaddai regions adjacent to Sudan and in the Tibesti area bordering Niger, where competing ethnic factions continue to engage in conflict. The military has incurred significant casualties due to Islamic terror groups operating in the Lake Chad Basin.