Disentangling the security traffic jam in the Sahel

Why do global military actors like the US, France, the EU and the UN deploy troops to resolve conflicts in West Africa’s Sahel region; and with what effects?

This special section of International Affairs explores intervention continuity and escalation in the conflict-ridden Sahel region. Despite years of ongoing interventions by multiple external and regional actors, the security situation in the region is dramatically deteriorating. The case studies of four major external international intervention actors (France, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations) show that contemporary interventionism cannot be explained simply with reference to frameworks of ‘success’ or ‘failure’. It requires a broader conceptualization of effects, including how specific threat perceptions, rationales and problematizations get constituted and consolidated through and during ongoing intervention practice.

Access to the introduction to the Special section Disentangling the Intervention Traffic Jam in the Sahel click here.