¡El Sahel en llamas!¿Vuelta al caudillismo?

Abstract

The ever complex balance of life in which the Sahel has been living for centuries is now broken, due, among other things, to explosive population growth, a growing scramble for increasingly scarce natural resources and governments that are overwhelmed in their attempts to maintain stability in their countries. In this environment of growing destabilisation, the Sahel and increasingly parts of West Africa, the efforts of terrorist groups - especially jihadists - along with those of old and new powers to establish themselves in this key region of Africa and the planet are constant; and they achieve this, in large part, by applying a dynamic of "the worse, the better". The worse for societies, the better for us. A succession of coups d´état have occurred in the region; and perceptions of them vary, ranging from being just another cause of disorder to being a simple consequence of this growing instability. A brief reflection on this subject is the focus of this paper.