West African Challenges Vulnerabilities and factors of insecurity in the Sahel

To contemplate discussing the strategic challenges in the Mediterranean at the present time without taking account of the geopolitics of the Sahel is simply unthinkable. The Sahel occupies a key location mid-way between the Mediterranean world and sub-Saharan Africa. A buffer zone but above all an area of contact and trade which cannot easily be controlled, the Sahel arc is fast becoming an endemic source of conflict over which the various actors have little control. There are a multitude of destabilising factors: the fragility of States in the region, internal power struggles, growing militarisation, rapid population growth, a general climate of insecurity which fuels trafficking of all kinds, and lastly various foreign interventions aimed at gaining a toe-hold in this strategic corridor and taking control of its wealth.