... Sahel, one that may only be escapable via new strategies or, more precisely, new partners. As many consider Emmanuel Macron’s announcement to end Operation Barkhane an attempt to garner positive public opinion before the 2022 presidential elections in France, Mali must consider its own political, security and foreign policy realities in 2022, too. Namely, through security, economic, and diplomatic cooperation with emerging countries like Russia and Turkey. Two countries which may serve as “lifeboats” from ...
... the problems of the development of terrorism and the search for ways of countering it. Other issues included challenges of the spread of Islamism in the Sahel region, the roles of the main actors in Mali's conflict and the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali.
The webinar was attended by Herve Juvin, Member of the European Parliament, President of the Identity and Democracy Foundation; Daniel Dory, former Vice Minister of Territorial Planning of Bolivia, Associate Professor, La Rochelle University (France); Wolfgang Pusztai, Senior Advisor at the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy (AIES) in Vienna.
Russian side was represented by: Andrey Kortunov, RIAC Director General; Denis Degterev, Head of the Department of Theory and History ...
... was carried out in January–February 2013 (officially it was completed in July 2014) and quickly defeated the Tuaregs, who by then were already in conflict with the Islamists. Among them was AQIM, which wanted to create a Caliphate in northern Mali. France then turned over the peacekeeping mission to the United Nations. Today MINUSMA has a staff of 11,500.
Prototype of the New Islamic Threat
RIA Novosti / Dmitry Vinogradov
Irina Zviagelskaya:
Russia in a Changing Middle East
The Islamist group Al-Mourabitoun,...
... forces. If France manages to engage the West African countries, and maybe the African Union, within the UN peacekeeping force, there is a chance to overcome the crisis. But the outcome is far from guaranteed. In essence, it is a question of preventing Mali and entire Sahel from becoming a second Afghanistan.
In June 2012, construction of a second Mistral-class ship was commenced for the Russian Navy. Do you see more prospects for Russia-France military cooperation?
The black-and-white thinking of the Cold War is absolutely inapplicable today, because the entire world is in the same boat.
I lack the information necessary to judge the economic and military-technical feasibility of these ...
... operation has proven the EU countries' capacity for war when their traditional zones of interest are under threat.
The war is by no means over
, as recognized by French President François Hollande during his visit to Bamako, where he assured the Malians that France would stay "until the Africans are ready to replace it." Apart from military assistance, the French are likely to invest in Azawad to improve the socio-economic situation. It is worth noting that the province is rich in potentially lucrative ...
... services were preparing the Arab Spring and NATO aircraft were bombing Libya. The French operation in Mali is just one episode in the looming war for Africa, its resources, the hearts and minds of people across Africa.
Russia's Tacit Consent
Launching the Mali military operation, France referred to
UN Security Council 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 ...
... the rebels are more seriously armed than previous times. Why? Where does these weapons come from? Malian rebels get their arms from Libya; they get their support from those who were fighting against the overthrown Qaddafi government. Ironically, today France is helping the Malian government to fight with the Islamic terrorists but in fact France itself was one of the reasons why Malian rebels became so strong that the local government could not handle this conflict on its own. As it was France who, in cooperation with the ...
Interview
On January, 11 France deployed troops to Mali to halt the southern advancement of Islamist forces. The intervention was backed by the United Nations Security Council, with NATO allies providing logistical and intelligence support. Yet some analysts believe that Mali might turn into another Afghanistan ...