The 2012 Rebellion in North Mali: the MNLA Insurgency, Caught Between the State and the French Intervention


Abstract


In 2012, North Mali was riven by an armed insurrection. The rebellion was led by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), a mostly Tuareg armed organization, allied with Islamist elements. Its aim was the secession of the Northern territories of the country and to claim the independence of Azawad. Throughout the different phases of the crisis, the MNLA always remained a key actor, being able to reshape its political and military strategy in order to adapt to the evolution of the situation. In this context, France played a capital role. French authorities contributed to giving a new political legitimacy to the Tuareg insurgents, despite strong opposition of political élites in Bamako; the Tuareg insurgents de facto exploited France, leveraging its security interests in pursuit of their own political goals. Examining the agency of insurgent actors in Kidal allows outlining the power relationship with the state institutions and the attempt of consolidating a system of informal rebel governance.

DOI Code: 10.1285/i20398573v5n2p511

Keywords: Mali; Tuareg; France; Insurgency; Legitimacy

References


, ‘Point de presse de M. Alain Juppé, ministre des affaires étrangères et euro-péennes, sur les difficultés de la situation au Mali confronté au terrorisme et menacé dans son intégrité territoriale, Bamako le 26 février 2012’, Vie Publique, 2 March, viewed 8 January 2019, .

, Mali: avoiding escalation, Working Paper, International Crisis Group, viewed 4 January 2019, .

, ‘Where have the jihādists gone?’, The Economist, 2 February, viewed 8 January 2019, .

, ‘Moussa Mara à Kidal: retour sur une visite mouvementée’, RFI, 21 May, viewed 12 January 2019, .

, Mali – Mètre. Enquête d’opinion « Que pensent les Maliens ? », Working Paper, no. 2, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, viewed 16 May 2019, .

, Mali – Mètre. Enquête d’opinion « Que pensent les Maliens ? », Working Paper, no. 3, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, viewed 16 May 2019, .

Ayoedema, A E 2015, Terrorism and Transnational Threats in West Africa: A Global Perspective, Xlibris, Bloomington.

Baldaro, E 2018, ‘A Dangerous Method: How Mali Lost Control of the North, and Learned to Stop Worrying’, Small Wars & Insurgencies, vol. 29, no. 3., pp. 579-603. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2018.1455323

Baudais, V 2015, Les trajectoires de l’Etat au Mali, L’Harmattan, Paris.

Beetham, D 1991, The Legitimation of Power, Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Bencherif, A & Campana, A 2017, ‘Alliances of convenience: assessing the dynamics of the Malian insurgency’, Mediterranean Politics, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 115-134. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629395.2016.1230942

Bergamaschi, I 2013, ‘French military intervention in Mali: inevitable, consensual yet insufficient’, Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 1-11. http://doi.org/10.5334/sta.bb

Bergamaschi, I & Diawara, M 2014, ‘French military intervention in Mali: not exactly françafrique but definitely post-colonial’, in B Charbonneau & T Chafer (eds), Peace operations in the francophone world: global governance meets post-colonialism, Routledge, Abingdon.

Bleck, J, Dembelé, A & Guindo, S 2016, ‘Malian Crisis and the Lingering Problem of Good Governance’, Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 1-18. http://doi.org/10.5334/sta.457

Bleck, J & Michelitch, K 2015, ‘The 2012 crisis in Mali: ongoing empirical state failure’, African Affairs, vol. 114, no. 457, pp. 598-623. https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adv038

Bøås, M 2015, ‘Crime, Coping, and Resistance in the Mali-Sahel Periphery’, African Security, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 299-319. https://doi.org/10.1080/19392206.2015.1100506

Bøås, M, Torheim, L E 2013, ‘The Trouble in Mali. Corruption, collusion, re-sistance’, Third World Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 7, pp. 1279-1292. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2013.824647

Boilley, P 1999, Les Touaregs Kel Adagh. Dépendances et révoltes: du Soudan français au Mali contemporain, Karthala, Paris.

Boisbouvier, C 2013, ‘Guerre au Mali: le plus dur est à venir’, Jeune Afrique, 11 Fe-bruary, viewed 10 January 2019.

Börzel, T, Risse, T 2015, Dysfunctional Institutions, Social Trust, and Governance in Areas of Limited Statehood, Working Paper, Collaborative Research Center (SFB-Governance), viewed 16 May 2019, .

Börzel, T, Risse, T 2018, Conceptual Framework: Fostering Resilience in Areas of Limited Statehood and Contested Orders, Working Paper, EU-LISTCO, viewed 16 May 2019, .

Branson, K & Wilkinson, H 2013, ‘Analyse de la crise au nord du Mali’, in M Tré-molières (ed), Conflits liés aux ressources et terrorismes: deux facettes de l’insécurité, Éditions OCDE, Paris.

Briscoe, I 2014, Crime after Jihād: armed groups, the state and illicit business in post-conflict Mali, Working Paper, Clingendael Institute, viewed 22 January 2019, .

Charbonneau, B & Jourde, C 2016, Les dilemmes de la résolution des conflits face aux défis de la « guerre au terrorisme »: le Mali dans une perspective sahélienne, Working Paper, Chaire Raoul-Dandurand en études stratégiques et diplomatiques – Centre FrancoPaix, viewed 14 January 2019, .

Charbonneau, B & Sears, J 2014, ‘Fighting for Liberal Peace in Mali? The Limits of International Military Intervention’, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, vol. 8, no. 2-3, pp. 192-213. https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2014.930221

Chauzal, G & van Damme, T 2015, The roots of Mali’s conflict. Moving beyond the 2012 crisis, Working Paper, Clingendael Institute, viewed 20 September 2019, .

Chivvis, C S 2016, The French war on Al Qa'ida in Africa, Cambridge University Press, New York.

Cilliers, J & Sisk, T D 2013, Assessing long-term state fragility in Africa, Working Paper, Institute for Security Studies, viewed 22 January 2019, .

Cline, L E 2013, ‘Nomads, Islamists, and Soldiers: The Struggles for Northern Ma-li’, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, vol. 36, no. 8, pp. 617-634. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2013.802972

Cristiani, D & Fabiani, R 2013, From Disfunctionality to Disaggregation and Back? The Malian Crisis, Local Players and European Interests, Working Paper, 16 January 2019, Istituto Affari Internazionali, .

De Georgio, A 2015, ‘Viaggio nel Mali del nord, dove si rimpiange il welfare jihādista’, Limes, no. 3.

Delage, T 2013, ‘Opération « Serval » au Mali : un nouvel Afghanistan pour la France?’, Diplomatie, no. 61.

Desgrais, N, Guichaoua, Y & Lebovich, A 2018, ‘Unity is the exception. Alliance formation and de-formation among armed actors in Northern Mali’, Small Wars & Insurgencies, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 654-679. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2018.1488403

Duyvesteyn, I 2017, ‘Rebels & Legitimacy; An Introduction’, Small Wars & Insurgencies, vol. 28, no. 4-5, pp. 669-685. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2017.1322337

Frerks, G & Terpstra, N 2017, ‘Rebel Governance and Legitimacy: Understanding the Impact of Rebel Legitimation on Civilian Compliance with the LTTE Rule’, Civil Wars, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 279-307. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698249.2017.1393265

Gaasholt, O M 2013, ‘Northern Mali 2012, the short-lived triumph of irredentism’, Strategic Review for Southem Africa, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 68-91. https://www.up.ac.za/media/shared/Legacy/sitefiles/file/46/1322/08gaasholtpp6891.pdf

Galy, M 2013, ‘Pourquoi la France est-elle intervenue au Mali? ’, in M Galy (ed), La guerre au Mali. Comprendre la crise au Sahel et au Sahara. Enjeux et zones d’ombre, La découverte, Paris.

Grémont, C 2010, Le Maghreb dans son environnement régional et international. Touaregs et Arabes dans les forces armées coloniales et maliennes Une histoire en trompe-l’œil, Working Paper, IFRI, 20 September 2019, .

Hanne, O 2016, ‘Barkhane: succès, atouts et limites d'une opération originale dans la Bande sahelo-saharienne’, Res Militaris, pp. 1-18. https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01425745/document

Harmon, S A 2010, ‘From GSPC to AQIM: The evolution of an Algerian islamist terrorist group into an Al Qaeda affiliate and its implications for the Sahara-Sahel region’, U.S. Militarization of the Sahara-Sahel. Security Space & Imperialism, no. 85, pp. 12-29. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/From-GSPC-to-AQIM%3A-The-evolution-of-an-Algerian-an-Harmon/450ae6e29d7e9031911ff8e6c393439ab666eacb

Kasfir, N 2005, ‘Guerrillas and civilian participation: The National Resistance Army in Uganda, 1981-86’, The Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 271-296. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X05000832

Kasfir, N 2015, ‘Rebel governance – constructing a field of inquiry: Definitions, scope, patterns, order, causes’, in A Arjona, N Kasfir & Z Mampilly (ed.), Rebel Governance in Civil War, Cambridge University Press, New York.

Keister, J 2014, The illusion of chaos. Why Ungoverned Spaces Aren’t Ungoverned, and Why That Matters, Working Paper, Cato Institute, viewed 22 February, .

Klute, G 2013, ‘Post-Gaddafi repercussions in Northern Mali’, Strategic Review for Southem Africa, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 53-67. https://www.up.ac.za/media/shared/Legacy/sitefiles/file/46/1322/07klutepp5367.pdf

Konaté, F 2015, ‘Guerra Santa per i cuori e le menti’, Limes, no. 3.

Krasner, S D & Risse, T 2014, ‘External Actors, state-Building, and Service Provi-sion in Areas of Limited statehood: Introduction’, Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 545-567. https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12065

Lacher, W 2012, Organized crime and conflict in the Sahel-Sahara region, Working Paper, Carnegie, viewed 16 January 2019, .

Leauthier, A & Merchet, J D 2013, ‘Mali : les derniers secrets de la guerre’, Marianne, 09 March, viewed 10 January 2019, .

Leboeuf, A 2005, ‘Les conflits fluides : concepts et scénarios’, Politique Étrangère, no. 3, pp. 625-638. https://doi.org/10.3917/pe.053.0625

Lecocq, B, Mann, G, Whitehouse, B, Badi, D, Pelckmans, L, Belalimat, N, Hall, Bruce, Lacher, W 2013, ‘One hippopotamus and eight blind analysts: a multivocal analysis of the 2012 political crisis in the divided Republic of Mali’, Review of African Political Economy, vol. 40, no. 137, pp. 343-357. https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2013.799063

Lecocq, B & Klute, G 2013, ‘Tuareg separatism in Mali’, International Journal, vol. 68, no. 3, pp. 424-434. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0020702013505431

Lecocq, B & Klute, G 2019, Tuareg Separatism in Mali and Niger, in de Vries, L, Englebert, P, Schomerus, M (ed.), Secessionism in African Politics Aspiration, Grievance, Performance, Disenchantment, Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Lecocq, B 2010, Disputed Desert. Decolonization, Competing Nationalisms and Tuareg Rebellions in Mali, Brill, Leiden.

Levi, M, Sacks, A & Tyler, T 2009, ‘Conceptualizing Legitimacy, Measuring Legitimating Beliefs’, American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 354-375. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764209338797

Livermore, D 2013, ‘The case for Azawad’, African Security Review, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 282-293. https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2013.839100

Lounnas, D 2012, ‘Al-Qaïda au Maghreb islamique et la crise malienne’, Sécurité Globale, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 43-58. https://doi.org/10.3917/secug.020.0043

Lounnas, D 2013, ‘La stratégie algérienne face à AQMI’, Politique Étrangère, no. 3, pp. 147-157. https://doi.org/10.3917/pe.133.0147

Mampilly, Z C 2011, Rebel Rulers. Insurgent Governance and Civilian Life during War, Cornell University Press, Ithaca.

Marchal, R 2012, Is a military intervention in Mali unavoidable?, Working Paper, NOREF, viewed 28 January 2019, .

Marchal, R 2013, ‘Mali: Visions of War’, Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 1-8. http://doi.org/10.5334/sta.bc

Matfess, H 2019, ‘In Africa, all jihad is local’, Foreign Policy, viewed 8 May 2019, .

McCullogh, A 2015, The legitimacy of states and armed non-state actors: Topic guide, Working Paper, GSDRC, viewed 16 September 2019, .

Nay, O 2013, ‘Fragile and failed states: Critical perspectives on conceptual hybrids’, International Political Science Review, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 326-341. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512113480054

Niang, A 2013, ‘Le «boom» des saisons dans l'espace sahélo-saharien. Proto-révolution, désintégrations et reconfigurations sociopolitiques’, Afrique con-temporaine, vol. 245, no. 1, pp. 53-69. https://doi.org/10.3917/afco.245.0053

Notin, J C 2014, La Guerre de la France au Mali, Tallandier, Paris.

O’Connor, F 2019, The Spatial Dimension of Insurgent-Civilian Relations: Routinised Insurgent Space, Working Paper, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, viewed 31 May 2019, .

Onuoha, C & Thurston, A 2013, Franco-African Military Intervention in the Mali Crisis and evolving Security Concerns, Working Paper, Al Jazeera Center for Studies, viewed 22 January 2019, .

Péclard, D, Mechoulan, D 2015, Rebel Governance and the Politics of Civil War, Working Paper, Swiss Peace, viewed 16 May 2019, .

Pellerin, M 2012, ‘Le Sahel et la contagion libyenne’, Politique Étrangère, no. 4, pp. 835-847. https://doi.org/10.3917/pe.124.0835

Perret, T 2014, Mali. Une crise au Sahel, Khartala, Paris.

Pezard, S & Shurkin, M 2015, Achieving Peace in Northern Mali. Past agreements, Local Conflicts, and the Prospects for a Durable Settlement, Working Pa-per, Rand Corporation, viewed 13 February 2019,

Podder, S 2013, ‘Non-State Armed Groups and Stability: Reconsidering Legitimacy and Inclusion’, Contemporary Security Policy, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 16-39. https://doi.org/10.1080/13523260.2013.771029

Polese, A & Santini, R 2018, ‘Limited statehood and its Security Implications on the Fragmentation Political Order in the Middle East and North Africa’, Small Wars and Insurgencies, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 379-390. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2018.1456815

Raineri, L & Strazzari, F 2015, ‘State, secession, and jihād: the micropolitical economy of conflict in Northern Mali’, African Security, vol. 8, no.4, pp. 249-271. https://doi.org/10.1080/19392206.2015.1100501

Raineri, L 2015, ‘Dio e Denaro. Nel Mali, il jihādismo si è fatto pratico’, Limes, no. 3.

Risse, T 2013, ‘Governance in Areas of Limited statehood: Introduction and Overview’, in T Risse (ed), Governance without a state? Policies and Politics in Areas of Limited statehood, Columbia University Press, New York.

Risse, T 2012, Governance Configurations in Areas of Limited Statehood, Working Paper, Collaborative Research Center (SFB-Governance), 16 May 2019, .

Rotberg, R I 2004, When states Fail: Causes and Consequences, Princeton University Press, Princeton.

Rothstein, B 2009, ‘Creating Political Legitimacy: Electoral Democracy Versus Quality of Government’, American Behavioural Scientist, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 311-330. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764209338795

Scheele, J 2012, Smugglers and Saints of the Sahara. Regional Connectivity in the Twentieth Century, Cambridge University Press, New York.

Shurkin, M 2014, France’s War in Mali. Lessons for an Expeditionary Army, Working Paper, Rand Corporation, viewed 13 February 2019, .

Stillman, P G 1974, ‘The Concept of Legitimacy’, Polity, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 32-56. https://doi.org/10.2307/3234268

Suchman, M C 1995, ‘Managing Legitimacy: Strategic and Institutional Approaches’, The Academy of Management Review, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 571-610. www.jstor.org/stable/258788

Tham Lindell, M & Mattsson, K 2014, Transnational Threats to Peace and Security in the Sahel: Consequences in Mali, Working Paper, Swedish Defence Research Agency, viewed 16 May 2019, .

Thiriot, C 2002, ‘Rôle de la société civile dans la transition et la consolidation dé-mocratique en Afrique: éléments de réflexion à partir du cas du Mali’, Revue internationale de politique comparée, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 277-295. https://doi.org/10.3917/ripc.092.0277

Thomas, C A 2013, The Concept of Legitimacy and International Law, Working Paper, London School of Economics, viewed 12 September 2019, .

Thurston, A & Lebovich, A 2013, A handbook on Mali's 2012-2013 crisis, Working Paper, Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa, viewed 16 January 2019, .

Walther, O, Leuprecht, C & Skillicorn, D 2016, Wars Without Beginning or End: Violent Political Organizations and Irregular Warfare in the Sahel-Sahara, ArXiv. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Wars-Without-Beginning-or-End%3A-Violent-Political-in-Walther-Leuprecht/cdd22ac3ed92896a69000f0134d780e5786b6d8a

Weber, M 1964, The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, The Free Press, New York.

Wing, S D 2008, Constructing democracy in transitioning societies of Africa, Palgrave Mac-millan, New York.

Wing, S D 2016, ‘French intervention in Mali: strategic alliances, long-term regional presence?’, Small Wars & Insurgencies, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 59-80. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2016.1123433

Wing, S D 2013, ‘Briefing Mali: Politics of a Crisis’, African Affairs, vol. 112, no. 448, pp. 476-485. https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adt037

Worrall, J 2017, ‘(Re-)emergent orders: understanding the negotiation(s) of rebel governance’, Small Wars & Insurgencies, vol. 28, no. 4-5, pp. 709-733. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2017.1322336


Full Text: pdf

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.
کاغذ a4

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 3.0 Italia License.