Transborder insecurity in the Sahel: assessing non-state actors in enabling terrorism in Mali

Abstract

The study, on which this article is based, sought to examine the role of non-state actors in enabling terrorism and insecurity in Mali. The researchers analysed the insecurity situation in Mali within the broader challenge of insecurity and religious conflict in West Africa. The researchers contend that transhumanism as a migratory pattern, and the porosity of international boundaries along the Sahel region are enabling variables for the insecurity and instability in the country. Although the way transhumanism is practised today might have changed, the methodological approach by which it is carried out has not. However, many argue that the root causes of terrorist acts and violent conflict in post-independence Africa are not the unmet promises to address poverty and unemployment but rather people's experiences of inequality and relative deprivation. This article attempts to clarify some of the critical theoretical issues for which political elites need to look out as they put measures in place to address fundamental challenges the country is facing. The concept of ungoverned spaces is elaborated upon, and the researchers assert that the vast uninhabited spaces in Mali are breeding areas for terrorists with their nefarious activities. The article concludes by suggesting that the Malian government should renegotiate a social compact with the people of Mali and start re-engineering rapprochement between the Malian people and the government.