Sahel: the fight against terrorism, the waste

A multitude of actors are fighting terrorism in the Sahel: the concerned countries armies with the help of civilian auxiliaries and international partners. From 2012 to now, the fighting has sometimes intensified, sometimes decreased and then turned into an implicit truce. Terrorist groups abounded and fought each other for supremacy on the ground. The hydra is still there, causing, among other things, human tragedies. Relations between partners – African and international governments – have deteriorated to the point of destroying coalitions and regional organizations. A feeling of waste and failure prevails.

Sahel: insecurity and insensitivity

Not long ago, one of the international community serious concerns, Sahel terrorist violence, is today unnoticeable on its agenda. Far behind the war in Ukraine and that in Sudan which broke out in April 2023. With the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Sahel has disappeared from the strategic concerns of international decision-makers even though, on its immense spaces, violence and migrations are worsening and multiplying. Will the new Russian-Iranian-Turkish military-economic visibility in the Sahel (3,300 km from west to east and 1,600 km from north to south) push towards changes?

Sahel: serious old and new perils

In the Sahel, while old security perils remain and keep spreading, at the same time, new destabilizing threats emerge and are extending. Focus of real international concerns, not long ago, these perils are now marginalized by the war in Ukraine and Sudan creeping collapse. With the resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they now find themselves off the media headlines and the concerns of the major decision-makers and other influencers.

Almost left on its own, with all subsequent risks of amplification and perpetuation, the Sahel, an explosive Pandora’s Box, shouldn’t remain forever marginalized.