Mali

commentary

Why the UK May Be Sending Troops to Mali

The UK government's decision to deploy an additional 250 soldiers to join the United Nations mission in Mali might be in Britain's security interests. Such deployments display the UK's commitment to international security and may well form a critical part of its post-BREXIT diplomacy.

Michael Shurkin

commentary

Mali Violence Shows Limits of Intervention

Each year brings more violence to Mali and its neighbors. Mali and Burkina Faso are rapidly destabilizing; the situation in Niger is less dire, but that is hardly a commendation. Why is the violence in Mali getting worse given the significant efforts by the international community to stem it?

Michael Shurkin

commentary

Mali Is France's Afghanistan, but with a Difference

At first glance the comparison between the French military operations in Mali and America’s involvement in Afghanistan is compelling, and in some important ways, accurate. It also presents some fundamental differences that give reason for optimism in France.

Stephanie Pezard @StephaniePezard, Michael Shurkin

commentary

What Is the Sahel G5 Force and Why Should the U.S. Support It?

The French Joint Force G-5 Sahel plan offers the possibility of strengthening the Sahel nations' efforts to combat terrorism. Supporting the French initiative is a worthy undertaking, provided, of course, that everyone understands what it is and is not.

Michael Shurkin

commentary

Sahel Governments Need More Security Assistance

Developments in the Sahel are cause for alarm. Despite the presence of an active French counterterrorism force and a UN peacekeeping mission, al Qaeda groups are thriving. The region would benefit from approaches that combine police and military operations with economic development and improved governance.

Michael Shurkin

commentary

The U.S.-France Dustup Over Counterterrorism in the Sahel

It's time for Paris and Washington to get together with the G5 nations of the Sahel and draft a strategy for achieving shared objectives. The French cannot do it alone or even with the support of the G5 nations. The U.S. would be penny wise but pound foolish to stay aloof or even just uphold the status quo.

Michael Shurkin

commentary

What Mali Really Needs

Mali needs more international engagement, as well as serious pressure on the Malian state to strengthen its hold on the country. The key will be helping beyond just security force assistance and conventional economic development aid; Mali needs help governing.

Michael Shurkin

commentary

Mali's Persistent Jihadist Problem

The 2013 French intervention in Mali averted an al Qaeda-backed thrust toward the capital of Bamako and reduced the threat from other jihadist groups. To ensure that a new threat does not materialize, France will need staying power and support from its allies.

Christopher S. Chivvis

commentary

Emergencies: France, Mali, and Turkey Are Playing with Fire

The leaders of France, Mali, and Turkey have declared formal states of emergency. France's Hollande and Mali's Keïta, while responding to real threats, are risking democracy. Erdogan appears to be targeting democracy and using Turkey's recent failed coup as a pretext.

Michael Shurkin

commentary

The French Way of War

There is a French way of warfare that reflects the French military's lack of resources and its modest sense of what it can achieve. They specialize in carefully apportioned and usually small but lethal operations, often behind the scenes.

Michael Shurkin

commentary

How to Defeat a New Boko Haram in Mali

While there is a need for stepped up military and police efforts against the self-proclaimed Macina Liberation Front, Mali's policymakers and their international partners need to focus on countering revivalist Islam, ideally by promoting Mali's other Islamic traditions, while finding ways to calm the inter-communal competition.

Michael Shurkin

commentary

Family Planning Must Be Part of the Humanitarian Response in Africa's Conflict Zones

Worldwide, nearly 800 women die every day due to mostly preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. More than half of these deaths occur in fragile states torn by armed conflict and generalized violence.

Mahlet Atakilt Woldetsadik

commentary

Help Malians Fight Back

The March 7 terrorist attack that killed five people in a nightclub in Bamako, Mali, underscores the importance of international support for the West African country, which has become another front in the struggle against Islamist radicalism.

Stephanie Pezard @StephaniePezard, Michael Shurkin

commentary

Mali's Peace Accord Offers Little More Than an Opportunity

The good news is that Mali's latest attempt at peace presents a real opportunity. The bad news is that all the reasons that previous agreements failed are still present.

Michael Shurkin

commentary

Does France Have the Master Plan to Defeat ISIS?

In Mali, France stopped jihadists from taking over, ejected them from the country almost entirely, and struck a major blow to their ability to threaten France and the region. This success story provides important lessons for the U.S. debate about how to deal with ISIS.

Christopher S. Chivvis

commentary

France Gets Tougher on Terrorism

The launch of Barkhane, a new military operation by France, signals a change. Rather than simply reacting to an emergency as it did in Mali, France is committing to a long-term counterterrorism campaign, a much greater and more public commitment. This is welcome news for the United States.

Michael Shurkin

commentary

NATO Needs a Southern Strategy

If NATO wants to avoid strategic irrelevance, it needs to give increasing attention to the threats from the Middle East and North Africa region. A southern strategy should draw on recent experience, such as NATO's intervention in Libya and the successful operation in Mali.

F. Stephen Larrabee, Peter A. Wilson

commentary

Remembering What Mali Needs

Free and fair elections are important, to be sure, but what Mali really needs is a leader who is dedicated to democracy, unity and reform of Mali's politics and institutions, write Stephanie Pezard and Michael Shurkin.

Stephanie Pezard @StephaniePezard, Michael Shurkin

commentary

What Does the Amenas Attack Mean for U.S. Policy in Africa?

Coinciding with continuing, contentious hearings on the U.S. response to last September's terrorist attack in Benghazi, the attack on the Amenas natural gas facility in Algeria has elevated a more general debate about the war on terrorism and U.S. policy in Africa, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

The Motivations Behind the Amenas Terrorist Attack

An attack of this complexity would have required months of reconnaissance, planning, recruiting of inside confederates, and training of participants. France's intervention in Mali was used to “justify” an attack that would likely have taken place anyway, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Foreign Intervention in Mali Is Libya in Reverse

France is in Mali not just to prop up a failing state in French Africa, but because Mali was becoming a magnet for jihadis from around the world and Paris rightly feared the country could become the next Afghanistan—only much closer to Europe, writes Christopher Chivvis.

Christopher S. Chivvis

q&a

The al Qaeda Threat in North Africa

Last week's terrorist attack at the In Amenas gas complex in Algeria, along with the recent success of the militant groups fighting government forces in Mali, indicate al Qaeda and other terrorist groups are gaining influence in North Africa. RAND experts weigh in on the latest developments.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins, Michael Shurkin, et al.

commentary

Hostage Taking Exposes Terror Threat in Africa

There is a danger in viewing Mali through the prism of counter-terrorism, since the rebel element there is tangled up in movements and groups with a wide variety of interests and motives, ranging from sincere religious conviction to local political rivalries to base economic opportunism, writes Michael Shurkin.

Michael Shurkin

commentary

The French Intervention in Mali Is Necessary, but Risky

No solution is likely to offer more than a short-term reprise if it is not accompanied by real progress toward resolving Mali's political crisis and strengthening the Malian state and Malian democracy, write Stephanie Pezard and Michael Shurkin.

Stephanie Pezard @StephaniePezard, Michael Shurkin

commentary

France Needs More Than Force in Mali

France should coordinate military action with efforts to engage with local factions to use as partners and proxies, write Stephanie Pezard and Michael Shurkin. This is, in effect, how France conquered and secured northern Mali in the first place a century ago.

Stephanie Pezard @StephaniePezard, Michael Shurkin

blog

Unrest in Mali Leaves Opening for Radicalism

African leaders meeting in Paris on Wednesday reportedly agreed that an African-led operation is needed to keep the western part of the continent, including Mali, from becoming overtaken by terrorists, including al Qaeda affiliates.