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Ouvrages Année : 2021

Rethinking the response to jihadist groups across the Sahel

Résumé

Rather than the ideology of global jihad, the driving force behind the emergence and resilience of non-state armed groups in the Sahel is a combination of weak states, corruption and the brutal repression of dissent, embodied in dysfunctional military forces. The dominant narrative of a global jihadi threat has overshadowed the reality of the key role played by military nepotism, prevarication and indiscipline in generating and continuing conflict in the Sahel problems that long predated the "war on terror". Moreover, it has pushed the international community to intervene to regulate local conflicts that have little to do with global terrorism or religious indoctrination. Mali offers a clear example of this. The widespread use of poorly controlled militias, the collapse of its army, two coups in 2012 and 2020 and a weak state presence in rural areas, on top of a history of repression and abuse suffered by its northern population, has done much more to drive the growth of insurgent groups than did the fall of the Gaddafi regime in Libya in 2011, Salafist indoctrination, or alleged support from Arab countries. It is time to rethink the role of the international community and acknowledge its limits in this context. Today, success depends first and foremost on the goodwill (much more than on the capacity) of political leaders to reform and renew their social contract with citizens, especially in rural areas. International efforts that seek to support military action against armed groups will fail as long as impunity prevails and local armies can kill civilians and topple governments without consequence. The recent experience of Niger might not offer a model that can be replicated in its entirety in Mali, or elsewhere in the Sahel, but it demonstrates that there are possibilities for improvement. Though by no means perfect, Niger's democratic experience shows that it is possible for states in the region to overcome the legacy of their bloody and divided past.
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Dates et versions

hal-03263269 , version 1 (17-06-2021)

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Citer

Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos. Rethinking the response to jihadist groups across the Sahel. Chatham House, 03/2021, 27 p., 2021, Chatham Research Paper. ⟨hal-03263269⟩
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