In January 2013 France launched Operation Serval in the former French colony of Mali as a humanitarian intervention, with the blessing and an official mandate by the UN Security Council after an official request by the Malian interim government, led by interim president Dioncounda Traoré, for French military assistance. The official request came after Islamist militants who held northern Mali launched a military offensive against the government-controlled south. The goal of Operation Serval was to oust Islamic militants in the north of Mali, as part of the War on Terror campaign happening in the Sahel region of the African continent. After the initial deployment on January 11, the French troops deployed combined with French airpower succeeded
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As far back as this term was first used, governmental and academic debates concerned themselves with the possibility of states exploiting a humanitarian exception to justify military aggression. In the case of France, the former colonial empire has continuously been criticized for interference in its former colonies. More prominent is the case of Côte d’Ivoire, where the French were accused of interference in the political sovereignty. Although the humanitarian intervention in Mali was widely welcomed by the Malian population and government it does not signify that the French had no ulterior neocolonial motives when launching Operation Serval. France’s economic imprint in the region cannot be ignored when analyzing their decision to intervene in Mali. France also has major firms and economic interests exploring for uranium, gold, and copper, especially in Niger, Mali, and Senegal. The African continent is known for its enrichment of unlimited resources, resources that led to the colonializing of the African continent by Western empires. And although the colonial era is no more, Western countries still seek to use the continent’s resources for their economic gains. The desert territory of the Sahel region has the world's richest deposits of uranium, gold, and copper and petroleum was lately found in that area. According to Sudanese Dr. Muhammad Abd-al-Qadir Khalil, such great and promising economic wealth led France to intervene to protect it from others, such as China, the United States, and Britain . He argues that “France considered the possibility of these three States expanding in the continent.” This expansion would arguably lead to a loss of influence and economic monopoly for the French in their former colonies. Boeke and Schoerman also point out that by intervening, France secured key regional, political and economic interests in the
As far back as this term was first used, governmental and academic debates concerned themselves with the possibility of states exploiting a humanitarian exception to justify military aggression. In the case of France, the former colonial empire has continuously been criticized for interference in its former colonies. More prominent is the case of Côte d’Ivoire, where the French were accused of interference in the political sovereignty. Although the humanitarian intervention in Mali was widely welcomed by the Malian population and government it does not signify that the French had no ulterior neocolonial motives when launching Operation Serval. France’s economic imprint in the region cannot be ignored when analyzing their decision to intervene in Mali. France also has major firms and economic interests exploring for uranium, gold, and copper, especially in Niger, Mali, and Senegal. The African continent is known for its enrichment of unlimited resources, resources that led to the colonializing of the African continent by Western empires. And although the colonial era is no more, Western countries still seek to use the continent’s resources for their economic gains. The desert territory of the Sahel region has the world's richest deposits of uranium, gold, and copper and petroleum was lately found in that area. According to Sudanese Dr. Muhammad Abd-al-Qadir Khalil, such great and promising economic wealth led France to intervene to protect it from others, such as China, the United States, and Britain . He argues that “France considered the possibility of these three States expanding in the continent.” This expansion would arguably lead to a loss of influence and economic monopoly for the French in their former colonies. Boeke and Schoerman also point out that by intervening, France secured key regional, political and economic interests in the