Abstract
Why had counterterrorism policy in Mali failed by 2012? This chapter addresses this question from the perspective of how US diplomacy’s assessment of issues, subjects and threats on the ground, and how this informed Sahel counterterrorism policy. Analysis of Malian-American diplomatic communication 2006–2010 demonstrates that despite considerable expertise by Bamako-based US diplomats, their considerably nuanced and detailed assessments and recommendations were ultimately ignored or deemed irrelevant. Failure to utilise available diplomatic information and analysis was due to the dominant policy prioritisation of counterterrorism by military securitisation of subjects, territory and borders. The diplomatic communications show that this prioritisation granted the Malian government considerable influence in determining US counterterrorism policy in the country. As a result, the grievances of Mali’s northern peoples were exacerbated, and extremism thrived, a tragedy considering US diplomats knew what to do.
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Notes
- 1.
Also spelled Ançar Dine. This is not the same Ansar Dine that took over northern Mali with MNLA in 2012 led by Iyad Ag Ghaly. Both mean ‘defenders of the faith’.
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de Orellana, P. (2017). When Diplomacy Identifies Terrorism: Subjects, Identity and Agency in the ‘War on Terror’ in Mali. In: Romaniuk, S., Grice, F., Irrera, D., Webb, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Global Counterterrorism Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55769-8_49
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