Gambia faced an unexpected post-election crisis this week as ousted incumbent President Yahya Jammeh declared a three-month ‘state of public emergency’ in a bid to remain in office amid moves by neighbours to force him to accept December’s electoral verdict ending his 22-year rule.

The West African enclave — a former British colony sporting a short coastline and an interior wholly encased by French-speaking Senegal, with which it shares maritime boundaries to the north and south — brings fresh challenges for regional foreign policymakers.

Taking