A number of the Sahel governments have their eyes fixed on the rearview mirror, wanting to know nothing of the present and even less of the future. Populist discourse with a haunting refrain – » it is the others’ fault » is recurrently condemning the international community action though not offering an alternative. A demagogy that does not serve the Sahel countries or the regimes themselves. A fresher and freed look is called for.
Source : J. Brachet, A. Choplin, O. Pliez, 2011 ; Crédit : http://geoconfluences.ens-lyon.fr, ENS-Lyon / DGESCO
And what if the G5 Sahel countries difficulties were related to their borders management? This impression prevails when one looks at the conclusions of the recent G7 Summit, held in Biarritz, France, from 24 to 26 August 2019. By consensus, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and President Rock Marc Christian Kaboré of Burkina Faso, have called for a redefinition of a « security perimeter », in the face of « the extension of the terrorist threat in the Sahel ».
In others words, the new security commitment would involve, in the G5 Sahel defense efforts, the Gulf of Guinea countries, including Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Will that be enough, to curtail the terrorist wave that inflicts so much suffering to the Sahel populations?
Aspirations for peace tend to be depicted negatively, as the absence of conflict. In many societies, peace is experienced as the order that follows the end of war, often called negative peace. Seen through this prism, peace is rarely studied independently or measured directly without the long shadow of its ubiquitous companion, conflict. It also leaves little space for peace to be pursued as a national meta-policy—as in Costa Rica with its national vision for peace, or Ethiopia with its newly-established Ministry for Peace.
A Security Council delegation has arrived this weekend to the Sahel. It will visit Mali and Burkina Faso. In view of the long lasting Mali crisis and the worrying developments in Burkina Faso, that is the right focus. Then, what after?
