Beyond Paris and Moscow: The AES and test of Sahelian security

Three military governments have removed French troops, dismantled much of their Western security cooperation, left the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and brought Russia into a far larger role.

This is strong evidence of opinion in Mali at that moment, not a mandate from all three societies or proof that Russian support delivers better security.

In Mali, state forces and Russian partners were linked to 918 civilian deaths, against 232 attributed to the two main jihadist organisations.