Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 06/2013

Crisis in Mali: Root Causes and Long-Term Solutions

Hannah Armstrong

May 2013

United States Institute of Peace

Abstract

The international focus on counterterrorism and regime change in Mali risks obscuring the long-term political root causes of the current crisis. There is national consensus that decentralization is the key to enhancing the political power of marginalized localities and improving security in the high-risk northern zone. Prospects for strengthening the state and promoting national unity via decentralization are coming under threat by an increasing politicization of ethnic divisions.