Risks of an Intervention in Mali

Before discussing the Islamist dimension, a brief review of the changes in Mali is appropriate. Although seen as a relatively open and stable state under President Amadou Toumani Touré , Mali, prior to this year’s events, had deep-seated problems of poverty, maladministration and corruption, coupled with the relative under-development of the north of the country, a region inhabited substantially, but not solely, by ethnic Tuaregs. About one third of all Tuaregs live in Mali with others spread across Niger, Algeria, Libya and parts of the Sahel. There remains a nomadic aspect to Tuareg society. There have been Tuareg rebellions during the French colonial era, primarily aimed at self-determination, and the secessionist stresses persisted after independence with periodic further rebellions.