French interventions in Sahel region to further tensions

On 8 March, Tarek Megerisi and Andrew Lebovich published with The European Council on Foreign Relations an analysis of France’s strategy in the Sahel drawing on the French intervention in Chad last February. They argue that interventions of foreign powers in the region, and of France in particular, could likely cause an escalation of risks in the region. According to them, the intervention showed both the lengths to which France is willing to go to protects regional partners such as Chad and also how European countries continue to focus on short-term solutions to the regional issues of security and migration. The two authors also demonstrate that the intervention also reveals France’s dependency on auxiliaries and partners to control issues of national interests, and that such partnerships can have damaging consequences. On that note, they refer to Libya and the French support to General Haftar and his armed forces since 2014 which contributed to Haftar’s rise. In this context, the French intervention in Chad appears connected to Haftar’s movements in South Libya. For the authors, these actions are largely contributing to disrupting the regional situation.Click here to read the report.