Berkley Center

Of my entire year as an exchange student, I have found the past few weeks living in France to be among the most interesting. From my kitchen table far from the seat of power in Paris, I have watched the French government intervene militarily over 2,000 miles from French soil in the West African country of Mali.

As an Arab Studies major with a concentration in Economic Development, I approach this issue very much from the perspective of an outsider. I do not have extensive knowledge of Sahelian society, military interventions, or France’s long history in West Africa. Yet, as events have unfolded south of the Sahara, I have come to see my host country, often famed for its tour Eiffel, haute couture, and gastronomie, from a new perspective.

Throughout the past year, Tuareg and Islamist insurgents gained increasing strength in northern Mali. Despite fighting between different groups, these forces seized control of many of the country’s key northern cities and over half of its territory. Caught in an increasingly desperate situation, the government of Mali called for international military assistance.

Recognizing that rebels were accelerating their push towards the Malian capital of Bamako and propelled by UN Security Council Declaration 2071, France responded to ensure the security of Mali’s government. As the French army, together with allied troops from neighboring African countries, pushed rebel forces back city by city, observers both inside and outside France had not seemed to expect the agility and ease of the French operation. Within three weeks, François Hollande, the president of France, had traveled to Mali, met with his Malian counterparts, and proclaimed military victory, all to the roar of thankful crowds of Malian people.

As I have watched events unfold through both the French and international press and as I have spoken with numerous French people about their country’s actions in West Africa, I have found curious French discourse on the intervention in Mali. In particular, while journalists outside of France, such as those at the New York Times, the BBC, or Al Jazeera, have frequently remarked on a neocolonial aspect of the intervention, France’s government, journalists, and people have seemed reluctant to mention how their country’s past may be influencing its current actions.

For example, on the night when François Hollande announced that the French military would intervene in Mali, I first observed this reluctance in a televised debate on the conflict on a French news channel. For over 20 minutes, the journalists and commentators spoke about human rights abuses in northern Mali, the instability of the Malian regime, and the potential for the conflict to exacerbate the threat of terrorism in the region. Only after these other topics were explored did a commentator mention the neocolonial overtones to the intervention. After this comment, the other participants in the debate simply continued to discuss issues they found more pressing.

Similarly, I noticed this hesitation towards speaking about France’s colonial past at a lecture with Tiéman Coulibaly, Mali’s current minister of foreign affairs, at the Sciences Po, the French university where I am studying abroad. Before the minister gave his perspective on the conflict and French involvement in Mali, a university official introduced Mr. Coulibaly to the audience. While this university official was quick to speak about France’s “very strong and historic ties” with Mali, he glossed over any of the harsher aspects of French colonial rule and the effect of this history on the French government’s decision to intervene in Mali.

Likewise, in his speech about the conflict, Mali’s foreign minister never mentioned any neocolonial critique of French actions. Rather, he spoke of France as a “myth” in his country, a “place where every student dreams of studying,” and a "friend" of Mali. Moreover, he declared unequivocally that “France’s war in Mali is just” and that “Malians recognize that France saved [their] republic."

I am not writing this blog post necessarily to claim that France should have avoided intervening in Mali. Before the removal of the rebel regime in northern Mali, news agencies around the world were reporting widespread and gruesome human rights violations. Moreover, as I said before, neither this region of Africa, nor military and security studies, is my area of expertise. Watching these events unfold, however, I have simply noticed that French public discourse does not seem to fully explore this crucial aspect of the issue. As the conflict persists and the French military presence in Mali continues, it will be interesting to see if public discourse on France’s role in its former colonies evolves.