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Abstract
The March 2012 coup in Mali opened the door to expanded territorial occupation in northern Mali by Tuareg separatists and subsequently armed Islamist extremists. French forces intervened at the behest of the interim government in Mali. This article examines how various actors frame the conflict to their advantage. While the Malian government and France are allies, the position of various Tuareg actors shift over time as they strategize and weigh the value of allegiance with the French. Local extremist organizations are labeled as terrorists and are targeted as enemies. This article argues that the conflict has been decontextualized and framed within the ‘war on terror’. France’s decision to intervene and to expand their regional military presence, rather than exit, is legitimized by the framing of their intervention as integral to counterterrorism efforts.
Notes
1. Ndiayeis, ‘French Intervention’.
2. Smith ‘In Search of Monsters’; Charbonneau and Sears, ‘Fighting for Liberla Peace’.
3. Bergamaschi and Diawara, ‘The French Military Intervention in Mali’, 142.
4. Tinti, ‘French Flags Selling out in Mali’s Capital’.
5. Shurkin, ‘France Gets Tougher on Terrorism’.
6. Touchard, ‘Guerre Au Mali’.
7. Thurston, ‘Sahel Blog’.
8. Wing, ‘Mali’, 482.
9. For analysis of the structure and hierarchies of Tuareg society, see Pezard and Shurkin, ‘Toward a Secure and Stable Mali’.
10. United States, ‘Terrorist Designations of Iyad Ag Ghali’.
11. ‘Talking Timbuktu’, 7.
12. ‘Scission au MNLA’.
13. For discussion of political divisions, see Tinti, ‘Lines in the Malian Sand’.
14. Morgan, ‘The Ouagadougou Accords’.
15. Ibid.
16. ‘Russian Envoy to Mali Summoned’.
17. Ibid.
18. ‘Le Président IBK s’attaque’.
19. Smith, ‘In Search of Monsters’.
20. Ibid.
21. ‘Rebel Groups Demand Federal System’.
22. Radio France International, ‘Mali: Les Enjeux de La Signature de L’accord de Paix’.
23. Agence France Presse, ‘Mali Rebels Explain Peace Accord’.
24. Roger, ‘Mali’.
25. Al Jazeera English, ‘France to Cut Troop Numbers in Mali’.
26. Bergamaschi and Diawara, ‘French Military Intervention in Mali’.
27. United Nations, ‘Report of the Security Council Mission to Mali, 1–3 February 2014’, 5.
28. ‘Mali: Peace Process Slows Down’, 7.
29. Cisse, ‘Cohabitations entre les Fama’.
30. ‘Mali: Peace Process Slows Down’, 7.
31. Wasservogel, ‘Des habitants de la region de Gao’.
32. Reuters, ‘Six U.N. Peacekeepers Killed’.
33. United Nations, ‘Report of the Security Council Mission to Mali, 1–3 February 2014’, 4–5.
34. Ibid., 5.
35. Associated Press, ‘Mali Says Islamic Extremists Killed 30 in North’.
36. PressTV, ‘30 Tuareg Muslims killed’.
37. Smith, ‘In Search of Monsters’.
38. Ibid.
39. Radio France International, ‘Mali: qui est Amadou Koufa’.
40. Shurkin, ‘How to Defeat a New Boko Haram in Mali’.
41. Tinti, ‘The New French Militarism’.
42. France 24, ‘Africa - Interactive’.
43. ‘Serval: Objectif Final’.
44. Gomis, ‘France’s White Paper on National Security and Defence’.
45. Smith, ‘In Search of Monsters’.
46. Radio France International, ‘Mali: qui est Amadou Koufa’.
47. Hollande, ‘Opening Debate’.
48. Dowd and Raleigh, ‘The Myth of Global Islamic Terrorism’, 499.
49. Gnanguenon, ‘Operation Barkhane’.
50. Ndiayeis, ‘French Intervention ‘Will Cost Mali Its Independence’.’
51. Holzgrefe, ‘The Humanitarian Intervention Debate’, 18.
52. Bergamaschi and Diawara, ‘The French Military Intervention in Mali’, 146.
53. Ibid.
54. Bannelier and Christakis, ‘Under the UN Security Council’s Watchful Eyes’.
55. Finnemore, The Purpose of Intervention, 6.
56. Koepf, ‘The Problems of French-Led Peace Operations’, 100.
57. Charbonneau and Sears, ‘Fighting for Liberal Peace in Mali?’, 7.
58. Ibid., 9.
59. Ibid.
60. Finnemore, The Purpose of Intervention, 5.
61. Charbonneau, ‘The Imperial Legacy of International Peacebuilding’.
62. Gnangeunon, ‘Operation Barkhane’.
63. For analysis of liberal versus critical perspectives on humanitarian intervention, see Falk, Humanitarian Intervention and Legitimacy Wars.
64. Government of France, ‘Discours Du Président François Hollande à La Base Militaire Française KOSSEI, à Ndjamena’.
65. Ibid.
66. Wing and Kassibo, ‘Mali: Incentives and Challenges for Decentralization’.
67. ‘Mali: Peace Process Slows Down’, 7.
68. Radio France International, ‘Mali: qui est Amadou Koufa’.
69. Tinti, ‘French Flags Selling out in Mali’s Capital’.
70. Boeke and Schuurman, ‘Operation ‘Serval’,’ 20.
71. Reuters, ‘Suspected Al Qaeda-Linked Militants Decapitate Tuareg Man in Mali’.
72. Sogoba, ‘Insécurité dans le Sahel: Barkhane et Minusma perdent le désert’.