Tuesday 23 April 2013

Mali is not moving in the right direction


Mali’s internal situation continues to be very fragile. The key international partners of this country need to coordinate better among themselves and agree on a common strategy in support of the stabilization process and the political transition.  This is a matter of great urgency.

It is also a matter of great concern to see that a country that has played an important role in the history of West Africa and has also been able to produce a large number of fine minds is today politically fragmented. No leader has emerged. Without a clairvoyant leader as a counterpart the external friends of Mali will not be able to succeed. It would be a mistake to forget this evidence.   

1 comment:

Noel said...

Very true, indeed. And if I may add, I think Mali is a victim of the 'tyranny of geography'. The northern two-thirds of the country is mostly desert where towns are few and far in between. There, state presence is very weak. Mali's borders are porous and impossible to completely secure, enabling armed groups, bandits, drug traffickers and terrorists (who may be one and the same group, depending on who you ask) to enter and leave Malian territory at will. And, as we know, the country is landlocked, depriving it of several economic and other advantages. Indeed, while all men are created equal, countries are not.