West Supporting Lesser of Two Evils in Mali Could Lead to More Trouble
Mali has long taken pride in its democratic track record, despite repeated rebellions in the north and lasting poverty. Unfortunately, in March, 2012, Mali’s 15.4 million people had witnessed two decades of democracy collapse in just a few hours with a coup d’état initiated by its military. Military officers accused President elect Toure of failing to deal with the Tuareg rebellion, and deposed him ahead of the April Presidential election. By April 2012, military, under international pressure, picked whom to support and handed over the government to the new President Dioncounda Traore. Meanwhile, in the same month, Tuareg rebels seized…
Why is France in Mali?
We have seen from a variety of news sources lately that France has deployed troops to the West African country of Mali to help fight radical Islamists, including a few branches of Al-Qaeda, who have taken over the north of the country. Why is France doing this? The area of land that is now present-day Mali was home to a series of advanced Muslim empires (such as the Ghana Empire and the Mali Empire) back when the Sahara Desert had not yet encroached as far south as it is currently. There are precious historical edifices that remain in Timbuktu, a…
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