Menu

United States Institute of Peace

Home ▶ Events

Peace in Mali? Political Transition and the Extremist Challenge in the Sahel

Date: Thursday, March 3, 2016 / Time: 8:00am - 9:30am 

Center: Middle East North Africa Center

Share This
Print the Page

Mali has witnessed significant progress since 2012, when a coup d’etat and a rebellion in the north led to extremist control of nearly two-thirds of the country. Malian authorities and the rebels are implementing a peace agreement under a democratically elected government. The success of this effort is central to improving stability in the Sahel, where about 4 million people are displaced by conflict. The U.S. Institute of Peace brought together U.S. government officials and experts on March 3 for a discussion on Mali’s transition, U.S. policies, and the specific role in Mali of USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives.

Peace in Mali- Political Transition and the Extremist Challenge in the Sahel-2-X3.jpg

Four years ago, Mali was destabilized amid a rebellion by northern armed groups, a coup d’etat by soldiers, and a security vacuum exploited by terrorists. Following interventions by the French military and a U.N. mission, the Malian government and a coalition of Tuareg and Arab groups have signed a peace deal. But al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and other extremist elements have continued attacks, particularly on U.N. peacekeepers. In November, militant gunmen killed 20 people at a luxury hotel in Bamako. Such violence has underscored questions about the success of Mali’s transition.

USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) has worked in Mali since 2013. It has engaged with civil society and community organizations to support broad-based participation in the democratic process and to promote access to reliable information. Joel Hirst, OTI Country Director in Mali, along with a panel of experts, discussed Mali’s political transition and the issues still facing the country and the Sahel region.

Continue the conversation on Twitter with #MaliUSIP.

Panelists

Nancy Lindborg, Opening Remarks
President, U.S. Institute of Peace

Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard, Panelist
Former U.S. Ambassador to Mali, 2011-2015

Kamissa Camara, Panelist
Senior Program Officer, West & Central Africa at National Endowment for Democracy

Joel Hirst, Panelist
Country Representative, Office of Transition Initiatives, USAID

Beth Cole, Moderator
Special Advisor on Violent Extremism, Conflict and Fragility, U.S. Institute of Peace

logos

Related Publications

For Sahel Stability, U.S. Needs Broader, Coordinated Policy

For Sahel Stability, U.S. Needs Broader, Coordinated Policy

Thursday, March 21, 2024

By: Kris Inman;  Matthew Reitman

As military coups and violent insurgencies have spread across Africa’s Sahel over the past decade, U.S. policy has professed to recognize and address their interconnections across the region, notably through the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership. Yet this effort remains insufficient to meet the scale and complexity of the violence and the underlying failures of governance.

Type: Analysis

Violent Extremism

For Peace in Sahel, African and U.S. Experts Urge Focused Partnership

For Peace in Sahel, African and U.S. Experts Urge Focused Partnership

Thursday, February 22, 2024

By: Katia Cavigelli;  James Rupert

The past month has sharpened a decade-old question for U.S. and international policymakers: How best, in 2024, to help stabilize what is now the world’s largest single zone of military rule and violent conflicts — Africa’s Sahel region? After three military-ruled Sahel states withdrew from the West African regional community in January, those juntas last week proclaimed an alliance aimed at resisting international pressures, including those for their return to elected civilian rule. Former U.S. and African officials yesterday urged what they called vital changes in U.S. and allied policies to prevent a dangerous spread of the Sahel’s crises.

Type: Analysis

Fragility & Resilience

Senior Study Group for the Sahel: Final Report and Recommendations

Senior Study Group for the Sahel: Final Report and Recommendations

Thursday, January 18, 2024

By: Bipartisan Senior Study Group for the Sahel

The United States has not traditionally viewed the Sahel as a region of vital interest, whether in terms of security or from an economic or business perspective. This has led to a pattern of reactive involvement shaped by the circumstances of specific events rather than proactive commitments. This pattern reveals the lack of a comprehensive strategy for the volatile Western Sahel region, which includes Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger. In April 2022, President Joe Biden announced that the US government would advance the “U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability” in coastal West Africa by prioritizing a partnership with Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Togo.

Type: Report

Civilian-Military Relations;  Democracy & Governance;  Peace Processes;  Violent Extremism

For Peace in the Sahel, Can the U.S. Work with Algeria?

For Peace in the Sahel, Can the U.S. Work with Algeria?

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

By: Thomas M. Hill

Amid the Sahel region’s crises — a continent-spanning web of communal and terrorist insurgencies and eight coups d’etat since 2020 — U.S. and European attention is focused elsewhere: on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s expanding global influence and the Israel-Palestine conflict. But an opportunity to promote stabilization in the Sahel, notably in Mali and Niger, could be U.S. collaboration with Algeria. Algeria shares borders with those violence-stricken states, and also the U.S. desire to help stabilize them and their Sahel neighbors. A first question for any joint U.S-Algerian engagement is whether the two countries’ visions for Sahel stability, particularly in Mali and Niger, are aligned or contradictory.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & Prevention;  Global Policy

View All Publications