The Sahel is the borderland of 3 million square kilometres between the Sahara Desert and the African savannah and forest lands further south. Much of this huge area is inhospitable. Insurgencies are common, as are migration and smuggling, jobs being as rare here as effective government intervention–state power extends only fitfully, and the region resists attempts to subdue militants, people-traffickers, nomadic herders or anyone excluded from power. The Western Sahel’s fragile states face growing popular discontent, complicated by both climate change and military intervention by France and other powers. Mali is the epicentre of the Sahel crisis: Morten Bøås charts the history of Mali and its fragile neighbours, identifying their current frailty as unsettled states, without legitimate social contracts or political consensus. This in turn has generated competing identities and economic interests, which spill over into resource conflicts over grazing, water, mineral reserves or smuggling routes. Such local contests have been manipulated by elites intent on their own preservation, and appropriated by jihadi insurgents eager to integrate into local communities. What will happen if all the ingredients of this perfect storm coalesce? What are the ramifications for the Sahel, its neighbours, Europe and the wider world?

‘The very first work to give a comprehensive overview of the Sahel crisis, this book fills a big void. Ambitious in scope, it is an extremely valuable publication.’

-- Giulia Piccolino, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Loughborough University

‘A sharp, lucid, and expansive exploration of the key ingredients of the perfect storm brewing in the Sahel, offering a rigorously researched unpacking of the region’s crises and the far-reaching implications they hold.’

-- Louise Wiuff Moe, Associate Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University, and co-editor of Reconfiguring Intervention: Complexity, Resilience and the ‘Local Turn’ in Counterinsurgent Warfare

'A highly accessible, historically grounded analysis of the complex social, political and security dynamics in the Sahel, as well as its potential political futures. An insightful discussion of the long history of political rule organised around controlling trade routes rather than territory, and a novel perspective on why, therefore, the Russian presence is unlikely to endure—and why Europe must maintain its engagement.'

-- Jana Hönke, Chair for Sociology in Africa, University of Bayreuth, and co-editor of Africa’s Global Infrastructures: South–South Transformations in Practice

Morten Boas is a research professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), specialising in Africa and the Sahel.