Content

New Atlanticist

Feb 11, 2013

America Should Stay Out of Africa

By Sarwar Kashmeri

Why on earth is the United States thinking of setting up drone bases around the African country of Mali when French forces seem to have the situation well in hand? In this instance, American leadership is not just unnecessary but also unwise. Especially when the U.S. record of helping Mali protect its security has already […]

Politics & Diplomacy Sahel

New Atlanticist

Feb 5, 2013

France’s Strategy for Success in Mali

By Sarwar Kashmeri

France’s military intervention is aimed at creating a stable state in Mali that is in French and EU strategic interests. What is France’s strategy in Mali? LTG Jean-Paul Perruche, former director-general EU Military Staff, in conversation with Sarwar Kashmeri, senior fellow, Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security and adjunct professor, Norwich University. (8 minutes)

France Sahel

New Atlanticist

Feb 4, 2013

Mali: Mission (pas) accomplie

By J. Peter Pham

The triumphalism of French President François Hollande’s visit over the weekend to the fabled desert city of Timbuktu less than a week after French forces pushed out al-Qaeda-linked militants had more than a passing whiff of George W. Bush’s “mission accomplished” landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln ten years ago. Hopefully, both France and the […]

Democratic Transitions France

Event Recap

Feb 1, 2013

Managing the crisis in Mali and the Sahel

By Africa Center

The Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center hosted a discussion on the escalating crisis in Mali and the threat it poses to the neighboring countries of Sahel. Moderated by J. Peter Pham, director of the Ansari Center, the panel featured Rudolph Atallah, senior fellow of the Ansari Center; Anouar Boukhars, nonresident senior fellow of […]

Conflict Crisis Management

New Atlanticist

Jan 31, 2013

Mali: Now What?

By Julian Lindley-French

Oscar Wilde once wrote “One of the many lessons that one learns in prison is that things are what they are and will be what they will be.” As I witness the French, British, and other Europeans rush to offer their very little militaries in support of an expanding Mali mission I am reminded of that […]

Sahel United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Jan 28, 2013

Managing Mali

By J. Peter Pham

Strategically ill-conceived as it might been in a moment of panic and almost stillborn as a result of its bumpy start (thanks to diminished European military logistics capabilities), the French military intervention in Mali has nevertheless altered the dynamics in the fight against al-Qaeda’s regional affiliate. As the United States broadens the hitherto limited assistance […]

Sahel

MENASource

Jan 25, 2013

Turmoil in the Arab World: How Has Morocco Fared?

By Mohsin Khan and Svetlana Milbert

The Arab Spring has resulted in profound political and economic changes in the Middle East. Yet, while authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya were toppled, Morocco has for the most part withstood the tumult of protests.  

Morocco

New Atlanticist

Jan 24, 2013

The French Mess in Mali and Libya

By Rajan Menon

If you want an illustration of the law of unintended consequences, look no further than Mali. The drama that’s been unfolding there over the past nine months, and that has taken a new turn in the past week, is a perfect illustration.

France Libya

New Atlanticist

Jan 22, 2013

Malgeria: Pause, Think, Plan, Act

By Julian Lindley-French

It is being called the “soft underbelly of Europe”, an entire sub-continent from the Maghreb to the Middle East that stretches down to the transitional zone between Saharan and Sub-Saharan Africa known as the Sahel region and beyond to Nigeria.

National Security Sahel

External

Jan 21, 2013

IntelBrief: Mali: Nowhere to Go But Down

By J. Peter Pham and Bronwyn Bruton

In the latest in the series of “IntelBriefs” on African security issues being produced by the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center in partnership with the Soufan Group, an international strategic consultancy, Ansari Center Director J. Peter Pham and Deputy Director Bronwyn Bruton argue that Mali’s plunge into failed state status has its roots […]

Sahel

Experts