The Mali Conflict and France's Military Operation
After the Mali situation became aggravated, quite a number of researchers focused on the conflict's geopolitical and ethnic aspects, whereas the military side was largely neglected. However, the French operation offers a ...
... Resolution 2085
of December 20, 2012, which sanctioned the deployment of the Mali support mission in coordination with other countries. The Resolution did not authorize France's unilateral action, but on January 15, the Security Council unanimously backed France's military campaign. The French media triumphed as the military intervention was welcomed,
even by the Russians and the Chinese
. On January 20, France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius reported that Russia had offered Paris
assistance
in transporting troops and food supplies to Mali. Back on January 15, Reuters ...
... French intervention?
These are very early days in the French intervention, so there are reasons to be cautious about analysis. I am not sure if the situation is as simple as the French think. The cost is a potential increased terrorist threat on mainland France. Because if the intervention is seeing amongst Islamic radicals as more Western intervention, then that could increase the threat to France. Grand strategically, it will provide further evidence for the radical Islamists' narrative about the imposition of Western values ...