G5 Sahel: the borders difficult management.

Non classé

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?

Read More

What Kind of Leadership Does Sustaining Peace Require?

Article, News, Non classé

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.

 

 

Read More

New information 2019 : Sahel hostages: a new enigma.

Non classé

  1. Over the last week of February 2019, a successful Barkane operation in northern Mali may have provided the answer to questions put on this page back in July 2017 (see below). Which government or organization has facilitated the release of the two hostages and were handed over to? From which airport did they return home? Finally, who has received the ransom payment if any was paid?
  2. Barkane is reported to have arrested, at the end of February, a former Malian gendarme and his companion, a few hundred kilometers north of Timbuktu. A credible rumor accredits the idea that both have spoken to their captors. They may have reported important information about the hostages including the purchase of a costly property costly in one of the Sahel capitals. The amount of the ransom is not mentioned. But in Barkane, they for sure, do know.

Read More