Hello everyone, I am starting on week three of quarantine and I’m doing fantastic. Apologies for the sarcasm but boredom has begun to impact my mood. Anyways, I was scrolling through the news over the weekend, trying desperately to find any news that was not related to the pandemic that I could write about this week. I came across a article in the New York Times about French forces in Mali, a conflict I personally have never been exposed to. So, I decided to do some deep research into the conflict and share it with you guys, because the corona news is getting exhausting.

Source: US Fish and Wildlife Services

First, it is important to note that the conflict is not limited to Mali, but rather a southern region of the Sahara that encompasses many nations. Recently, the western part of the Sahel region has seen a large increase in violence “that involves multiple armed groups, military campaigns by national armies and international partners as well as local militias” according to Al Jazeera. The reason that the French are heavily involved is because the source of the violence began in the early 2010s, when separatists took control of northern Mali. Mali was under French rule in the colonial times, and thus the nation decided to militarily intervene to stop the separatist descent into the capital.

Source: Washington Times

Unfortunately, in recent years, the violence that was first seen in Mali has begun to spread across the region, as armed groups gain territory. There has been an increased presence of organizations linked to ISIS and al-Qaeda, and national groups such as Boko Haram. The violence carried out by this group led to the United Nations estimating that “…attacks have increased fivefold in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger since 2016, with more than 4,000 deaths reported last year in the border areas between the three hardest-hit countries.” The UNHCR said that the violence in Burkina Faso alone displaced 700,00 people in twelve months. UN and French forces remain in the region to help eliminate the violence, but the groups are struggling to handle the conflict.

Source: UN News

The French presence in Mali has led to comparisons to the United States’ presence in Afghanistan. The French have a large presence in Africa, with Vice News reporting that “They also maintain the largest and readiest Western military presence on the continent, with permanently stationed troops in countries like Chad and Gabon.”  I personally believe that there are good reasons that France became involved in the conflicts in the Sahel region. The extremists groups have only brought violence and instability to the region. However, given the extent of the issue, I believe that it is naive to believe that just a few French and UN troops can properly handle the mission. Throughout history, we have routinely seen the catastrophes that occur when insufficient funds and resources are pooled into eliminating conflicts. More needs to be done, and more nations who have the ability to help should do so. What are your opinions on the conflict? Do you believe that more nations should become involved? Or do you believe that no one should be involved and the nations affected need to work out the situation themselves? It is a definitely a difficult question to answer and there likely is no obvious right answer currently.