New Meeting of the Thomas More Institute | Thursday, February 28, 2013, 8:30-10 am | Restaurant Le Petit Riche, Paris | Debate in French

More than a month after the start of the French intervention, the military effort in northern Mali is still far from accomplished: it must indeed continue the reconquest of territories and reduce the number of terrorists still exist pockets, secure cities and strategic areas, handing over to African and Malian troops on the ground.

But the hard work is done and it is in the political arena: how to restore constitutional order in Bamako? What place for the Tuareg in the context of a global political settlement? How to engage key stakeholders in the region (Algeria, Niger, Mauritania, Libya, (...)

By opening its airspace, Algeria has allowed France to intervene in Mali. This decision is significant, given the usual mistrust of the country. But regional geopolitical ambitions may well question this fragile upturn in trade between the two States | By Antonin TISSERON, Research Fellow at the Thomas More Institute | Posted by Le Nouvel Obs Le Plus | Available in French

Depuis le déclenchement de l’opération « Serval », les relations entre Paris et Alger semblent au beau fixe. D’un côté, le ministre des Affaires étrangères français Laurent Fabius annonçait, devant des journalistes, que des chasseurs basés en France avaient survolé le territoire algérien pour bombarder les groupes jihadistes présents dans le (...)

Inside Tombouctou, François Hollande justified France’s involvement into North-Mali by the « barbarism » of the Islamists. However, the fact that the armed Islamists groups are ferocious must not hide the barbarism of vanitas in Post-modernity times | By Jean-Sylvestre MONGRENIER, Research Fellow at the Thomas More Institute | Available in French

Dans les jours qui ont suivi le déclenchement de l’opération française au Nord-Mali, le gouvernement français a désigné les groupes armés islamistes comme étant des « terroristes », sans autre précision. En visite à Tombouctou, le 2 février 2013, François Hollande y a ajouté l’imputation de « barbarie ». La férocité et la violence des forces qui s’agitent à (...)

As the month of January ends, the French and Malian armies and the first African troops are engaged in the reconquest of northern Mali. On the diplomatic front, the armed group Ansar Eddine also faces centrifugal forces with the creation of the Islamic Movement of Azawad (MIA) around Alghabasse Intalla Ag, from the tribe of Ifoghas wish to emphasize and announcing a "peaceful solution". Far from being an end, this military offensive, however, is only the prelude to the deployment of measures to resolve old conflicts internationalized whose understanding – and solving – involves cross scales taking into account both the weight forces but also deep dynamics newer, not without risk to France | By Antonin TISSERON, Research Fellow (...)

On 28 January 2013, Timbuktu fell without resistance into the hands of the French army, accompanied by Malian troops. The purpose of war, as presented by François Hollande, is the restoration of the territorial integrity of Mali. The task will be long-term goals and should be more focused | By Jean-Sylvestre MONGRENIER, Research Fellow at the Thomas More Institute | Available in French

La liquéfaction accélérée de l’Etat malien, début 2012, et la perte totale de contrôle du Nord-Mali ne sont pas des épiphénomènes de l’histoire africaine post-coloniale. La rhétorique des gouvernements de la CEDEAO (Communauté des Etats d’Afrique de l’Ouest), l’exercice de multilatéralisme appliqué conduit depuis Paris et (...)