Following terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, for United States, North Africa has become a new front in the “war against terrorism”. In an area where France is traditionally present, this intervention has strike the geopolitical visions and dynamics in the region. Each actor has indeed its goals, making the Sahara an area where power, control and influence issues are meeting the name of security. In this context, the wish to give a local face to the fight against terrorism has been limited by the lack of consensus upon the strategy to adopt and the reluctance to engage of Mali. If civil war in Libya can bring together Sahelian states, fight against terrorism and crime in the Sahara desert depends on State’s capacities, relations between them and their populations, and on their interests.

Article by Antonin TISSERON, Research Fellow at the Thomas More Institute, published in the review Hérodote N°142. Available in French.

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