Long a military dictatorship, Mali became an African democratic success story from 1991 to 2012, before a coup crippled its rudimentary public institutions. In the north, Tuaregs traveling to Mauritania, Algeria and Niger, were particularly weakened by persistent drought and the collapse of the caravan economy.
马里经历过长时间的军事独裁统治，但1991—2012年，马里成为非洲民主成功的典范，接着，一场政变摧毁了马里尚显幼稚的公共制度。在北方，图阿雷格人向毛里塔尼亚、阿尔及利亚和尼日尔迁移，他们对持续干旱和大篷车经济的崩溃最为敏感。许多人开始从事武器、奴隶和黄金买卖；一些人开始要求独立。