Eurasia Review
Islamist fighters in northern Mali
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.
*This piece was initially published in Turkish Analist Journal in April 2013.
View profile and articles by JTW →
