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The current debate in the international community relates to the comparison
between the intervention in Mali and Afghanistan. It is believed that the
situation in Mali has deteriorated to the state that prevailed in Afghanistan
during the US intervention. Some experts have already prepared the blueprint for
possible intervention by international security forces and have highlighted the
challenges ahead of such anoperation. However, these major challenges and the
intervention of international security forcesare in the area of future zone of
conflict. At this juncture, it is equally important to analyse what the other
major challenges are in Mali, and their implications and concerns for
international security? It is also crucial to understand the internal and
external security factors that impelled French security forces to intervene in
Mali.
The French intervention in Mali, named ‘Operation Serval’, is conspicuous by
France’s almost single-handed role in the conduct of operations with some
logistic and technical support from the UK, Denmark, Canada, Belgium and
Germany. Although the US role has so far been confined to intelligence sharing
and providing some airlift support, it recently agreed to refuel French jet
fighters and bombers.
Genesis of the Conflict
John Campbell, a senior fellow from African Policy Studies highlights three
important aspects of the escalating conflict in Mali. First are the challenges
pertaining to poverty and the acrimony between the sparsely populated north and
the economically dominant south. Secondly, the crisis to democracy orchestrated
by an American-trained colonel during the 2012 coup, which exposed the
superficial connection between the country’s elite that managed the elections
and the people they governed. Third is the return of Tuareg mercenaries after
the end of the Gaddafi regime in Libya. On the issue of the al-Qaeda in the
Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) that has imposed a radical Islamic regime in the north,
Campbell believes that “Mali’s neighbours saw the emergence of this radical
Islamic state as a threat to their own security”. Forces and fighters with
weapons invaded the entire Sahel region. Particularly in the north, they used a
special momentum to spread their aggression and violence.
The root cause of the Malian crisis lies in the abject poverty in the north of
the country, which spurred external actors to take undue advantage. Security
analyst Melissa Cyrill points out that these developments went largely unnoticed
though the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) pressed for a
United Nations (UN) mandate for military intervention that was finally approved
for September 2013 after months of negotiations. In the meantime, respective
rebel and jihadist groups, with arms and logistic support from the erstwhile
Gaddafi regime, waged a complex yet effective war across the Sahel against
government forces, fuelled by the political instability and inflammable
environment in the region. This zone of intense conflict forced international
security forces to think about the implications of the instability and the
threat to the global security.
The month of January 2013 eventually saw separatist rebels heading southwards
towards the capital, leaving behind crumbling Malian forces in their wake. The
Islamist separatist group Ansar Dine announced the suspension of the ceasefire
agreed in December 2012 and captured the town of Konna in central Mali from
governmental control. This finally led to the Malian President requesting French
help to counter the rebels, followed by the UN endorsing the swift deployment of
an international force to Mali.
The question of intervention invariably raises doubts about the type, purpose
and duration of the mission. In the Malian crisis,doubts regarding French
intervention and its position were underestimated by various other security
agencies.Many view this operation as Pentagon controlled and executed by France.
Securing French Interests
Even as French intervention in Mali is discussed and criticised by many in the
international community, it becomes imperative to understand France’s motives.
Melissa Cyrill states that five main Islamist groups operate in the area – Ansar
Dine, Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao), al-Qaeda in the
Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the Signed-in-Blood Battalion, and the Islamic Movement
for Azawad (IMA). Among their various goals is the imposition of Sharia law
across Mali, the destruction of Sufi shrines and areas of worship, the spread of
jihad to West Africa and liberating Mali from its French colonial legacy.In
addition to the Islamist extremists, there are ethnic rebels like the National
Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) that is fighting specifically for
the rights of Mali’s minority Tuareg community. Several Malian Tuareg had joined
Gaddafi’s army to end intra-tribal conflicts and, following his overthrow in
2011, returned to Mali adding to the ranks of the MNLA as it orchestrated an
uprising against the Malian forces in convenient collusion with the Islamists.
The returning Tuareg had brought with them weapons such as surface-to-air
missiles.
By April 2012, MNLA-led fighters had completely overpowered the army and with
the Ansar Dine jointly declared that the north was an independent state named
Azawad. However, the Islamist Ansar Dine and Mujao soon turned against the MNLA
and drove its forces out of the main northern towns. This is why the MNLA
favoured the French military intervention in the hope that it could regain its
northern footing.
Adding to this conflict is the junta leader, Captain Amadou Sanogo,who staged a
coup in early 2012, but then stepped aside to cede power to the former speaker
of Mali’s National Assembly, Dioncounda Traore, who became the interim
President, but was later attacked brutally by those who were against him
retaining the presidency for 12 months as desired by ECOWAS. An immediate
concern also arose from the risks faced by 6,000 French citizens in Mali itself
along with embassies, businesses and private citizens across North Africa.
Additionally, France also has crucial economic interests in the region such as
the nuclear giant Areva’s uranium mines in the neighbouring state of Niger.
Challenges in Future
The present crisis is Mali definitely poses several challenges for the
international community in general, and the US and its European allies in
particular. However, it also highlights a paradigm shift in the role of the
European Union from a soft power to hard security actor. But it is clear to the
global community that the global player’s role in the context of economic and
military intervention will be concentrated in the African region in the years to
come where rising economic and military powers need to be prepared to deal with
such threats in future. However, it equally important for global players to
understand that their strategic engagement in the African region would run into
security and economic development concerns of the region. Dealing with the
problem of Islamic fundamentalism and Jihadi terrorist organisation like
Al-Qaeda and other affiliations is the moral responsibility of international
security forces and international actors presently engaged in the region and
those likely to have strategic interest in the region in future.
The political landscape of the region has changed dramatically over time due and
the situation is likely to persist in the near future where building peace and
limiting conflict will become a business agreement with the African countries.
International security forces must direct their policies to support the
maintenance of sovereignty and integrity of countriesIntervention must remain
only the last resort for international actors to confront any conflicts in the
near future. Intervention by providing aid through economic and political
dialogue and a collective approach would reduce space for conflicts to remerge
and take a different form. The international community must determine the
blueprint for eliminating conflicts for short and long term objectives. As in
the case of France, it clearly shows how it took control of the region and then
demanded for United Nations peacekeeping forces to further control the
situation.
The problems in Mali can lead to greater challenges like the threat of arms
smuggling, trafficking and terrorism, all contentious issue of this century. The
UN must develop a roadmap to boost the functioning of political parties in
turmoil, to form effective democratic governance and simultaneously safeguard
citizens of Mali and provide assistance to Malian security forces.An effective
democratic government in Mali, supported by international security forces,will
bring peace and prosperity in the region. Reconstruction must follow the
security blanket for the development of the region. The region must have its own
specialised security forces to tackleinternal security threats in the country.
Above all, the African continent must be seen as a zone for the prosperity of
the world, and not merely a region with huge natural resourcesimpelling nations
to intervene by way of peacekeeping and other humanitarian measures.
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