War In Mali: Geopolitics, Economic Conflicts And Terrorism – Analysis
By <
http://www.eurasiareview.com/author/the-journal-of-turkish-weekly/> JTW
-- (April 17, 2013)
By Fuad Ferhavi
The Republic of Mali witnessed a number of military and security
developments, with the onset of 2013. French Army launched military
operations into Northern Mali, where the fundamentalist groups took ground,
so that it could render help to the African forces. In fact, social unrest
in this region has historical roots in the demands of Tuareg people, which
live in Mali. In addition, the transformation that African continent has
gone through for more than ten years, has also had a great impact on the
incidents in Mali. For the time being, even though most of the states in
Northern Africa have been historically within French sphere of influence, it
is also predicted that the US will emerge as a dominant actor in this region
in the forthcoming period. It is also evident that strong regional actors
such as China, India and Brazil will try to get involved in the region as
far as they can, due to the rich natural resources of the region. In this
context, Mali comes into prominence among various states of the region,
because it serves as an intersection among Africa’s critical regions of
Maghreb, Sahel, Sahara and the Gulf of Guinea.
The historical roots of crisis
From the beginning, the incidents in Mali have been associated with the
crisis that has emerged when the demands of Tuaregs. Tuaregs are a people of
Berber descent, who had some economic, cultural and administrative demands
that have started to evolve into demands for independence. The presence of
Tuaregs in the region spreads over borders of Mali, south of Algeria, Niger
and north of Burkina Faso. After France succeeded in its nuclear trials that
it had been conducting since 1950s, it gave up its idea of establishing the
“Common Organization of the Saharan Regions”, which would include
Mauritania, south of Algeria, Mali and Chad; where Tuaregs lived. This made
Tuaregs start to think that they were stripped off their right to establish
their own independent state. France had wanted to form a special region in
Sahara, which would include Mauritania, south of Algeria, Mali, Niger and
Chad; because the socialist administration in Mauritania between 1962-1963
chose to suppress the political demands of Tuaregs and all other opposition
groups in the south. Along the way, Tuaregs became obliged to emigrate to
Libya, Algeria and some other neighboring states, due to the severe
conditions of draught in 1970’s and 80’s. Again, they were also used by
regional actors in the wars that took place between Libya and Chad as well
as Israel and Lebanon. With Lockerbie crisis, the UN started to impose
sanctions on Libya and as a consequence of this, smuggling activities in the
southern cities got apace in 1990s. During Algerian civil war, which derived
from the conflict between the Algerian army and armed fundamentalists, the
situation was again exacerbated, leading to an increase in terrorist
activities in north of Mali.
Rivalry among the international actors in Mali manifests itself especially
on the issues of rich oil and mine resources in Sahel and Sahara regions,
where Tuaregs live densely. These regions are monopolized by the French
company called Areva, whose activities are generally focused on uranium
extraction operations. France also meets most of its demand for uranium,
which is needed for its nuclear facilities as one of the basic sources for
energy supply, from Niger, again one of the places hosting Tuaregs. The
plans of China, India and other states to construct nuclear reactors in
these regions, on the other hand, seem to have pushed Areva into more
aggressive investment policies, which itself wants to protect its monopoly
over uranium. When the former president of Niger, Tandja, attempted to open
doors to China to make it invest in uranium and oil sectors, he faced a
great amount of pressure from the Westerners and even Areva asked for the
former president of France Nicolas Sarkozy to exclude China from deals in
these sectors. The mine deals that Tandja had made with China came to an end
with a coup d’état in 2010, due to the corruption allegations by the
opposition wing.
In addition, when Beijing supported the uprisings against the government of
Chad in 2006, France saved its ally Idris Debi by sending military troops to
protect the capital city N’Djamena. China had a factory that produced light
weapons in Sudan at that time, which made easier for it to provide the
rebels with weapons. There was also another Chinese weapon factory in the
Republic of Mali. That the weapons produced by these Chinese factories were
used to support the rebels, led to concerns in France and the West in
general, whose interests in the region were jeopardized.
Likewise; China and Russia also started to attach importance to the crisis
of Mali. The Special Representative of Russian President in Africa, Mihail
Margelov, made the statement that “Mali is regarded as a resource-rich
country where future conflict will inevitably take place”. In another
article of his that appeared in Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Mihail Margelov said
that “untouched uranium reserves in the regions where Tuaregs live can be a
reason for which Russia gave military support to the government of Mali.”
As for the US; the facts that oil was found in Chad and Niger and also that
English, German, Algerian and Chinese companies had oil exploration
activities north of Mali have incited the US to develop its security and
military relations with the countries in Sahel and Sahara regions. However,
it is clear that France is now worried about the US orientation toward the
region.
Moreover, the terrorist movements in the region are a reason of concern for
the Westerners. In recent years, the US has started to build oil pipelines
stretching from Chad to the Gulf of Guinea, over Cameroon, because the US
has become more dependent upon the oil in the Gulf of Guinea.
Elites and sea lanes of communication (SLOCs)
The concerns that France has regarding Chinese activities are not only
limited to oil and uranium issues. French administration is also wary of
Chinese “incursion” into the region through maritime routes. As recalled,
the Chinese navy came to this region recently for the first time in its
history because of the crisis in Somalia and the piracy issues that erupted
in this region; and then the Chinese navy anchored at Djibouti, which hosts
one of the biggest navy bases that France has outside its own territories.
China also constructed a port and now administrates it in Gwadar region of
Pakistan, a region which is close to the Hormuz Strait in the Persian Gulf.
Therefore China could protect the flow of oil shipping. Against China’s
encirclement policy targeting Sahel regions of Africa, France later built up
a naval base in the United Arab Emirates, which is strategically very close
to the port built up by China in Gwadar.
Another development that makes France worried is that some local elites have
given up supporting France and they come under the influence of such
countries as China. In addition to the increasing attention attached to
English language, China strives to promote its own language and culture
across Africa. The Confucius Institute in Mali is only one reflection of
this situation. Besides, a significant number of Malian students and
diplomats benefit education and training programs offered by China and a
great part of these people are employed as consultants in Chinese companies
operating in Western Africa. These people have already established important
commercial networks among Asia, Europe and Americas.
On the other hand, in parallel to French military operations in Mali, the
coverage of a segment of the population which thanked France for its
liberating them from the rule of terrorists and chanted the slogans of “Long
Live France” occupied an important part in the French media. However, it
should be noted that there were also slogans of Tunisian protestors chanting
“Go away” due to France’s intervention in the domestic affairs of Tunisia.
In any case, France is confronted by serious challenges in Africa nowadays.
This situation forces France to revise its policies before a “French Spring”
comes round at last and hits it. Otherwise, France will lose its resources
in Africa and the nation’s economy will slide into deeper crisis.
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Received on Wed Apr 17 2013 - 16:33:07 EDT
