Mali may be stable for now, but, with the separatist Tuareg rebels in country’s north having just suspended their participation in peace talks, many experts believe that it is only a matter of time before the conflict there reignites and spreads. Drug barons and local warlords control increasingly large swaths of territory from Guinea on the Atlantic coast through Senegal to Mali, Niger, and beyond.
整个萨赫勒地区的情况都令人担忧。马里暂时恢复了稳定，但北部的分裂主义的图阿雷格叛军刚刚退出了和平谈判，因此许多专家认为马里冲突重燃和扩大只是时间问题。在从圭亚那开始穿过塞内加尔直到马里、尼日尔和其他国家的大西洋沿岸，毒枭和军阀控制着大片领土。利比亚已经陷入了军阀混战，“国家”政府职能在武装集团的支持下维持运转。