The Malian Crisis: Multiple Actors with Diverse Interests and Values

Abstract

The African continent has registered the highest number of civil wars compared to other regions of the world. Although lasting peace and security have eluded the African continent, the tenacity to right wrongs and skirmishes within the continent has been real but abortive. The exclusionary political systems in Africa have created an environment in which various groups contending for power are excluded from the political and economic processes through various repressive measures. and the 2012 crisis is an event that testifies to  this assertion. The involvement of France, regional and international organisations, state and non-state actors in the conflict attest to the fact that the Malian crisis was an event of multiple actors with diverse interests and values at stake. The paper observes that France’s role in the conflict was mainly more humanitarian than interest driven.  However, the year 2015 became a defining moment in the history of Mali as it steered in a new phenomenon of peace accord aimed at renouncing the long lived rivalry between the southern and northern based societies.

The aim of this paper is to analyse and provide a comprehensive understanding of the 2012 Malian crisis and come up with the necessary prescriptions aimed at ensuring durable peace that will facilitate social economic growth in the war torn country. To substantiate the central objective of this paper, the paper relied mainly on documentary search.

Key Words: Exclusionary political systems, multiple actors, humanitarian and economic interests