AU official calls for NATO role in Mali

During a visit to Canada, the current chairman of the African Union called for a NATO role in Mali. Via Agence France Presse: African Union Chairman Thomas Boni Yayi on Tuesday called for NATO troops to join African Union forces in a mission to stabilize Mali following a coup last year. "NATO should play a ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

During a visit to Canada, the current chairman of the African Union called for a NATO role in Mali. Via Agence France Presse:

During a visit to Canada, the current chairman of the African Union called for a NATO role in Mali. Via Agence France Presse:

African Union Chairman Thomas Boni Yayi on Tuesday called for NATO troops to join African Union forces in a mission to stabilize Mali following a coup last year.

"NATO should play a part (in Mali), and the African force would lead the way as was done by NATO in Afghanistan," Yayi, who is also Benin’s president, told a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Harper, however, said: "The Canadian government is not considering a direct military mission" in Mali.

It’s not yet clear whether the idea represents a consensus position of the African Union, and a NATO spokesperson said that the alliance had received no formal request for assistance. Last month, the UN Security Council approved (with significant caveats) international support for an effort to restore northern Mali to government control. The UN resolution did not designate any single lead organization for that effort. To this point, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has been leading mediation efforts and is seen as the organization most likely to coordinate a response. Its members have pledged several thousand troops to help restore government control. The European Union has also committed to send advisers to help train Mali’s armed forces.

The AU bid for NATO support likely reflects growing alarm about the advance southward of rebel forces, and the government’s continued inability to respond. If the rebel advance continues, the cumbersome multilateral effort may well yield to a very familiar response: French intervention to save a teetering African government. 

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

Tag: NATO

More from Foreign Policy

Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.
Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.

Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America

The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.

Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.
Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.

The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense

If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.

Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.

Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War

Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.

An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.
An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.

How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests

And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.