The Sahel–Saharan belt has officially become the global epicenter of jihadism. From western Mali to the edges of the Lake Chad basin, millions of Sahelian civilians now live under the yoke of groups affiliated with Al-Qaida or the Islamic State. Farming is banned, ultra-violent social rules are imposed, and the constant fear of the next raid defines daily life. The population’s existence is a living nightmare. But the most tragic aspect of this descent into hell is not just the strength of the attackers — it is the glaring reality that there is no genuine security policy to contain the fire sweeping across the Sahel.
The rule of reaction and piecemeal responses
Facing a threat that is interconnected and crosses the Sahel’s porous borders with disconcerting agility, state responses remain desperately fragmented, vague, and improvised. What we see is a succession of hot reactions after each massacre, rather than the application of a well-thought-out, shared military doctrine.
A proper security policy is not limited to purchasing military equipment or making announcements on social media. It requires:
- Real and durable strategic coordination among the states on the Sahel front line.
- A permanent plan to secure road corridors and agricultural zones to protect the Sahel’s rural economy.
- Territorial coverage and shared intelligence that can anticipate enemy movements rather than simply tally the damage.
Instead, the current strategic vacuum leaves armed groups free to settle, collect taxes, and impose themselves as the sole administrators of large swaths of Sahelian territory.
The trap of an all-military approach without a global vision
Another symptom of this absence of a security policy in the Sahel is the illusion that the crisis can be solved by arms alone. By neglecting the “human security” dimension — which includes the return of public services, schools, clinics, and impartial justice to fragile areas — governments create a vacuum that jihadist recruiters eagerly fill. Because there is no long-term vision to reestablish the state permanently where it has failed, military operations, even when they succeed temporarily, become stabs in the dark. As soon as the army withdraws or shifts to another zone, terrorist groups return, stronger and more entrenched within local communities than before.
An urgent wake-up call or collapse
The assessment from Mali to Lake Chad is a severe warning for the region’s future. You do not fight a global, structured insurgency with improvisation and broken strategic alliances. As long as Sahel leaders refuse to design a comprehensive, scientific, and truly coordinated security policy, political speeches will continue — while the ground inexorably slips further into the hands of armed groups.
