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Mali

Fighters aligned with the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) patrol a street in Kidal, northern Mali, on Aug. 28, 2022. 

Military & Security

Politics

The al-Qaeda-linked JNIM's non-aggression pact with other armed groups highlights its political power as Bamako scrambles to preserve what little control over the country it has left.

In Mali, Jihadists and Separatists Forge a Pact to Counter the Islamic State

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Women sit under U.N.-branded cardboard boxes in Semera, Ethiopia, on Feb. 14, 2022, as they wait to be registered by the authorities at a hotel compound hosting civilians fleeing violence. 

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GBV is often primarily seen as a women’s and human rights issue. But in sub-Saharan Africa, it is also a key constraint to stable (and democratic) governance, economic growth, and lasting peace.

The Geopolitics of Gender-Based Violence in Africa

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British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Oct. 14, 2022, at 10 Downing Street in London.

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: A Volatile Week in the U.K. and France, China's 20th Party Congress

On Security

Burkina Faso

A British soldier leaves the Hombori area aboard a Chinook helicopter on March 28, 2019 during the start of the French Barkhane Force operation in Mali's Gourma region. Countries in the region are embracing a military-led counterterrorism approach that will struggle in the face of various governance, economic and coordination challenges.

Countries in the region are embracing a military-led counterterrorism approach that will struggle in the face of various governance, economic and coordination challenges.

How Coastal West Africa Is Responding to an Expanding Jihadist Threat

Chad

Mauritania

Niger

French soldiers patrol the streets of Gao, Mali, on Dec. 4, 2021. 

France’s updated military posture in the African region focuses on supporting national armies, especially Niger’s. But this is unlikely to offset the impact of Paris’ withdrawal from Mali. 

France’s New Approach to the Sahel: Preparing for Sustained Regional Instability

Ghana

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Members of the Constitutional Convention pose for a picture during the official presentation of the draft they made of the new constitution on May 16, 2022, at the Ruinas de Huanchaca National Monument in Antofagasta, Chile.

Energy

The Weekly Rundown: The Chilean Constitution Is Unveiled, an ECOWAS Summit

Mali’s National Transitional Council holds a vote on a revised charter in Bamako, Mali, on Feb. 21, 2022. 

Regional powers could ease the crippling economic sanctions imposed since last year’s coup. But the law also risks deepening the military’s control over the country.

In Mali, a New Law Promises Elections, but Not a Return to Civilian Rule

French soldiers patrol the streets in a village located in Mali’s Gao region on Dec. 4, 2021. 

The Jihadist Wars

The Suitors of Sub-Saharan Africa

An abrupt exit of French troops from the African country and the wider region remains unlikely, though it can’t be ruled out.

What France and Mali’s Fraying Relationship Means for the Sahel’s Security 

Security

Guinea Bissau

Demonstrators in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, hold up photos of Malian coup leader Assimi Goita (who seized power in Mali for the second time in a May 2021 coup) and Burkina Faso coup leader Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba on Jan. 25, 2022.

Niger may soon join the wave of military takeovers, but that risk has more to do with what’s happening within the country's borders.

Putting West Africa’s ‘Coup Contagion’ in Context

Old Leaders in a New Africa

Media

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After a wave of coups, both successful and failed, in West African nations, is it safe to say democracy is under attack?

Essential Geopolitics: Why So Many Coups in West Africa?

Russia

Colonel Assimi Goita (center) sits between other Malian military leaders during a meeting with an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) delegation on Aug. 22, 2020. Goita seized power for the second time in a May 2021 coup.

Severed ties with ECOWAS will deepen Mali's reliance on Russia for military support by further isolating it from regional states and France. 

West Africa Sanctions Mali Over Delayed Polls. But at What Cost? 

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Pakistan

A British soldier leaves the Hombori area aboard a Chinook helicopter on March 28, 2019, during the start of the French Barkhane Force operation in Mali's Gourma region. In the short term, the Taliban victory will provide a significant propaganda victory for global jihadist groups; the long-term outlook for global jihadism is much less certain. 

War, Insurgency & Terrorism

The War in Afghanistan

In the short term, the Taliban victory will provide a significant propaganda victory for global jihadist groups; the long-term outlook for global jihadism is much less certain.

Jihadist Terrorism After the Taliban Takeover of Afghanistan

The Fight Against the Islamic State

The Malian junta announced that it will hold a constitutional referendum -- originally scheduled for March but postponed -- on June 18, Radio France Internationale reported on May 5.

Mali: Interim Military Government Announces Date for Constitutional Referendum

The Malian transitional government announced that it will postpone a constitutional referendum scheduled for March 19 due to delays in the installation of the election management body and a desire to "popularize" the new draft constitution, Africanews reported on March 10.

Mali: Transitional Government Postpones Constitutional Referendum

France announced that it had completed the withdrawal of 2,400 French troops from Mali and handed over its last military base in Gao to the Malian army, Radio France Internationale reported Aug. 15.

France, Mali: France Completes Withdrawal From Mali

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Malian junta leader Assimi Goita during which they discussed plans for Russia to supply Mali with fuel, food and fertilizers, Reuters reported Aug. 10.

Mali, Russia: Moscow Considers Sending Fuel, Food Supplies Following Delivery of Fighter Jets

Mali's Fulani community organization Tabital Pulaaku warned against hate speech associating Fulanis with jihadist groups on social media and urged Mali's ruling junta to release tens of Fulanis that the organization says were arbitrarily arrested, Radio France Internationale reported Aug. 3.

Mali: Community Organization Warns Against Stigmatization of Fulani Following Jihadist Attacks

Algeria

Mali's ruling junta will meet with the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), a coalition of formerly separatist Tuareg rebel groups that signed the 2015 Algiers peace deal, as well as loyalist Tuareg groups from Aug. 1-5, Radio France International reported Aug. 2.

Mali, Algeria: Junta to Meet With Northern Rebel Groups Following Pressure From Algiers

Mali's ruling junta gave Olivier Saldago, the spokesperson for the U.N. Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), 72 hours to leave the country, Radio France Internationale reported July 20.

Mali: Junta Expels MINUSMA Spokesperson 

Mali suspended all new rotations of personnel associated with the U.N. Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) until a coordination meeting is held between the country's authorities and MINUSMA's heads, Radio France International reported July 14.

Mali: Bamako Announces Indefinite Suspension of MINUSMA Troop Rotations

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A view of the Register in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

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Covering an area that spans the entire width of the continent beginning at the Sahara Desert and ending at the southernmost tip of South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa is home to countless cultures, languages, religions, plants, animals and natural resources.

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The President palace in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

The administrative center of the Gakh region of Azerbaijan, located at the foot of the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus, on the river Kurhumchai.

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Mir Castle in the Minsk region of Belarus.

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A horse grazes in front of Kara-Kul lake in the Chon-Ak-Suu valley, 300 kilometers southeast of Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

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Mongolia

<p>Mali&#39;s borders were created in 1960 from the division of colonial French West Africa. The country encompasses two geographically distinct regions. These two regions &mdash;&nbsp;defined by the fertile, densely populated southern savannas and the arid, sparse northern Sahara &mdash;&nbsp;are largely separated by the Niger River, which also serves as the historic lifeline of Malian commerce. These regions have independent geopolitical cores. The southern core is the Bambara agricultural triangle that includes Bamako &mdash;&nbsp;the nation&#39;s capital. It&#39;s home to the Bambara people who share ethnic ties with Mali&#39;s southern neighbors: Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea and Senegal. The northern core is found at the southern end of the Hoggar Mountains and is home to the nomadic Tuareg &mdash; a Berber people with ties to populations in Niger, Mauritania and Algeria. Projecting political authority over both distinct regions is Mali&#39;s primary geographic challenge. The two largest cities in the north &mdash;&nbsp;Timbuktu and Gao &mdash; are on the Niger River and once served as major trading outposts between the two cores. Over the centuries, the establishment of sea routes by Europeans lessened the role of the Tuareg and these cities. Subsequently, the Tuareg Islamic sphere of influence has diminished, and the Saharan trade routes that once transferred salt, gold, ivory and slaves deteriorated. Today, Mali is one of the world&#39;s poorest countries. Its economy is based on agriculture, particularly cotton, livestock and gold mining. As the country&#39;s 2012 coup demonstrates, Bamako faces considerable challenges projecting domestic power from the extreme southwest of the country into the vast stretches of Mali&#39;s Saharan desert.</p>

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A Dec. 5, 2021, photo shows Timbuktu Airport, which jihadists attacked in 2013. In virtually all plausible scenarios, the security environment in the Western Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger) will remain volatile with high levels of violence through the end of 2024.

SITUATION REPORTS

Mali: Interim Military Government Announces Date for Constitutional Referendum

Mali: Transitional Government Postpones Constitutional Referendum

France, Mali: France Completes Withdrawal From Mali

Mali, Russia: Moscow Considers Sending Fuel, Food Supplies Following Delivery of Fighter Jets

Mali: Community Organization Warns Against Stigmatization of Fulani Following Jihadist Attacks

Mali, Algeria: Junta to Meet With Northern Rebel Groups Following Pressure From Algiers

Mali: Junta Expels MINUSMA Spokesperson

Mali: Bamako Announces Indefinite Suspension of MINUSMA Troop Rotations

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