How the French Operation Serval was viewed on the ground: A journalistic perspective
Domain:
peace and securityCreator:
Cel
Publisher:
Int
Host:
Abstract
When France launched Operation Serval in January 2013 – an intervention to fight back against jihadists threatening to overrun the West African nation of Mali – they were in the first instance warmly welcomed by a section of Malian public opinion. Seeing that their country, which had long been held up as a beacon of stability and democracy in West Africa, was facing what seemed an existential threat from a group of Islamic radicals who had already conquered almost half the national territory, many initially felt a huge sense of relief that the former colonial power with its strong military resources was coming to the rescue. This article examines the strength and nature of this sentiment in Malian public opinion, through my experience of visiting Mali as a freelance journalist at several points in the crisis from 2012–2013, and also through being based in Bamako from 2007–2008 as a BBC correspondent. It seeks to understand how the initial jubilation that greeted the French intervention in early 2013 soon began to turn to disappointment and frustration.
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