Mali

Analysis and Comment (3)

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Malian troops patrol the town of Diabaly in the country’s north. AAP/Nic Bothma

Military intervention can be a cure worse than the disease

The new year is scarcely a month old. Yet we have seen enough to know that the fires raging in different parts of the Middle East and North Africa will not easily abate – and that the firefighting efforts…
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Will history look kindly on the French intervention in Mali? EPA/Arnaud Roine

From Rwanda to Mali: France’s chequered history in Africa

Why the French intervention in Mali? Last week, French daily Le Monde asked this question of André Bourgeot, specialist on Sub-Saharan Africa with France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS…
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French soldiers gather on the tarmac of the military airbase in Bamako, Mali. EPA/Arnaud Roine/ECPAD

French intervention won’t fix the mess in Mali

The French government has announced it will triple its troop deployment to the conflict-plagued state of Mali. On Monday, France’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gerard Araud, explained that France…