THE ROLE OF MALI'S FOREIGN POLICY IN ADDRESSING SAHELIAN TERRORISM, 2015-2022
Keywords:
Foreign Policy, Terrorism, InsecurityAbstract
The Sahel region had been consistently marred by persistent terrorism, which compromised regional stability and security. Mali, a key stakeholder in the Sahel, was significantly impacted by this ongoing crisis. Despite numerous foreign policy initiatives, the rate of terrorist incidents within Mali and the broader Sahel region had not markedly declined. This posed critical questions about the effectiveness of Mali's foreign policy in tackling the root causes and manifestations of Sahelian terrorism. The aim of the study was to rigorously examine the role of Mali's foreign policy in addressing Sahelian terrorism. The research employed the theoretical framework of Neorealism to scrutinize the strategies enacted by Mali's foreign policy apparatus. A qualitative-historical research design was utilized, drawing on a plethora of secondary sources such as government documents, scholarly articles, and reports from international organizations. Content analysis was employed to critically evaluate the accumulated data. The study found that, although Mali's foreign policy was well articulated with its bilateral and multilateral agreements and engagements, its effectiveness in mitigating the scourge of Sahelian terrorism was limited by challenges amongst several other endogenous and exogenous with the economy topping the list. While there had been some incremental gains in regional stability and the establishment of international partnerships, the sheer number of terrorist incidents remained alarmingly high. This underscored the existence of substantial challenges in Mali's counter-terrorism approach. Therefore, the study recommended enhancing domestic economic opportunities to prioritize the welfare of Malians and boost national income, and regional cooperation, optimizing the allocation of resources towards counter-terrorism initiatives, and achieving better alignment between national policies and regional and international obligations as a blueprint for fortifying Mali's foreign policy strategy. It is strongly recommended for the international community particularly the security council members to take a more active role in increasing their funding and technical participation to positively change the narratives on the ground and boast the deliverables on the ground.
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