/303/ The Failure of the French Forever War ft. Yvan Guichaoua

On Mali and the Sahel.

French president Emmanuel Macron declared the end of Opération Barkhane on 9 November 2022, bringing to an end to nearly 10 years of French military intervention in Mali. But what is the legacy of the French Forever War in the Sahel, and what happens next? 

Sahel expert Yvan Guichaoua joins us to talk about French defeat in the war on terror, the continued French military presence in the region, the growing extent of jihadi power, as well as the crisis of the post-colonial state in Africa and the new geo-politics of Franco-Russian competition in the region. How do these various political forces intersect with the political economy of aid and smuggling networks?
Readings:

• Norms, non-combatants' agency and restraint in Jihadi violence in Northern Mali, Yvan Guichaoua and Ferdaous Bouhlel, International Interactions
• The bitter harvest of French interventionism in the Sahel, Yvan Guichaoua, International Affairs

Music: Nous Non Plus / Bunga Bunga / courtesy of Sugaroo!