The Challenges of Displacing Militants from Northern Mali

The resulting security concerns have reached beyond Mali's borders. Neighboring countries worry that militant activity will spread to their own territories, France and other European countries are concerned about attacks against their commercial activities in the region, and the United States wants to prevent Mali from becoming a staging ground for transnational jihadists.

 

International stakeholders agree on the need to confront al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in northern Mali, though they do not always agree on how to do so. The process of building an appropriate strategy has proved to be time-consuming and has left the jihadists space to maneuver in the short term, but the right approach will eventually deny the group the ability to operate freely in the Sahel and Maghreb regions.