Assignment task:
Political risks in Mali:
For many in the West, Mali is known mainly as the homeland of its legendary singer-songwriter, Salif Keita, who has eloquently portrayed to the world the fragilities of life in Mali. Mali is a large country in West Africa, where the semi-arid Sahel desert covers a large area, in which farming is the predominant means of livelihood. The country is now living on the edge in terms of climate change, and also living in the cauldron of insurgencies organized by Islamist terrorists. These threats have destabilized the country, challenging its fragile political system and economy. Malians had reasons to be optimistic in 1992, when democracy replaced a military dictator-ship. The country has a long history and is famous for its rich cultural heritage of Timbuktu, but much of this has been destroyed by Islamist terrorists. Islamic insurgency and a military coup in 2012 in the north and central regions resulted in the Islamist separatists gaining territorial control over parts of the country. They were repelled with the aid of the French military. In 2013, democratic elections were held, in which Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won the presidency. There followed a peace agreement with the Islamic separatists. This was a fragile arrangement, however, and violent attacks continued. UN peacekeeping forces attempt to keep down the violent attacks. In the presidential election of 2018, Keita won a second term, but only after a runoff election, and amidst violence that marred polling day. He faced a difficult task of restoring some semblance of stability. Despite the challenges of maintaining security, Mali has had economic growth of 5.5%, largely because of its natural resources, including gold. It remains a poor country, however, ranking 182 out of 189 countries in the UN Human Development Index published in 2018 (UNDP, 2018). The task of promoting sustainable development in Mali has taken on new challenges with the 'gathering. storm' of climate change, referred to in the recommended article below. Increases in temperatures in the Sahel are higher than the global average, threatening the country's precarious subsistence agriculture, through drought and soil degradation. Violence has broken out between communities under strain from the risk of hunger. This instability is exacerbated by the violent attacks of the Islamist groups. Although the situation can seem hopeless, local mediators are seeking peaceful reconciliation between communities to alleviate the hardship.
Questions
Q1. What are the causes of political risk in Mali?
Q2. What are the challenges currently facing Mali? How can they be resolved, if at all
Q3. Also correlate each answer with another country political environment as an example.