G5 Sahel Joint Force: European Strategy Should Go Beyond Counter-terrorism - Mali and the wider Sahel region should be provided with more support, but is the new counter-terrorist force what is needed?
G5 Sahel Joint Force: European Strategy Should Go Beyond Counter-terrorism - Mali and the wider Sahel region should be provided with more support, but is the new counter-terrorist force what is needed?

Author(s): Jan Daniel
Subject(s): Politics, International relations/trade, Security and defense, Military policy, Peace and Conflict Studies
Published by: Ústav mezinárodních vztahů
Keywords: Sahel; G5; Europe; support; military;
Summary/Abstract: On the 2 July 2017 the leaders of five Sahelian nations, joined the French president Macron, officially inaugurated a new regional military operation. The latest initiative is supposed to bring stability to the region struggling with the aftermath of the collapse of Malian state in 2012. The 5000 troops of the G5 Sahel joint force (JF-G5S) are to be composed primarily from the nations of the G5 Sahel bloc (Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger) supported with funds, training and equipment provided by the EU, France and potentially other Western states. The force will be tasked with enhancing government control of the border areas in Sahel, strengthening the authority of the respective states and facilitating humanitarian and development operations. The first deployment (of a planned three) is expected to take place in the triborder region of central Mali, western Niger and eastern Burkina Faso, where Jihadist and criminal armed groups recently stepped up their activities. The creation of the new counter-terrorist operation provides an opportunity to curb the activity of non-state actors in the sensitive border regions, yet it needs international support and wider perspective on the roots of the local conflicts to ensure sustainable stabilization.

• Details
• Contents