scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Author

Baz Lecocq

Bio: Baz Lecocq is an academic researcher from Humboldt University of Berlin. The author has contributed to research in topics: Politics & Independence. The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 23 publications receiving 505 citations. Previous affiliations of Baz Lecocq include Ghent University & Humboldt State University.

Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a group of eight scholars tried to give a comprehensive overall picture of the current political crisis in Mali, generated by the start of a new Tuareg nationalist uprising against the state, complemented by a coordinated attack on the state by both international (AQIM) and local Jihadi-Salafi movements, leading to a coup d'etat against the incumbent President Toure, and finallly a political stalemate of great concern to the international community.
Abstract: This is an exercise in contemporary history that aims to give a comprehensive background and analysis to the current (2012) political crisis in Mali, generated by the start of a new Tuareg nationalist uprising against the state, complemented by a coordinated attack on the state by both international (AQIM) and local Jihadi–Salafi movements, leading to a coup d’etat against the incumbent President Toure, and finallly a political stalemate of great concern to the international community. By pooling sources and analysis, a group of eight scholars tries to give a comprehensive overall picture.

101 citations

01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: In 2012, the political landscape in the Republic of Mali transformed rapidly, drastically, and unpredictably The formation of a new Tuareg political movement (the National Movement of Azawad) in October 2010 and the return to Mali of Tuaregs with military experience from the Libyan conflict in August 2011, bringing along heavy weapons and logistical supplies made speculation on renewed violence on the part of separatist Tuarege inevitable Indeed, TuareG separatists launched attacks on Malian garrisons in the Sahara in January 2012 Mali had experienced such rebellions before What nobody foresaw was that this renewed
Abstract: In 2012, the political landscape in the Republic of Mali transformed rapidly, drastically, and unpredictably The formation of a new Tuareg political movement—the National Movement of Azawad—in October 2010 and the return to Mali of Tuareg with military experience from the Libyan conflict in August 2011—bringing along heavy weapons and logistical supplies— made speculation on renewed violence on the part of separatist Tuareg inevitable Indeed, Tuareg separatists launched attacks on Malian garrisons in the Sahara in January 2012 Mali had experienced such rebellions before What nobody foresaw was that this renewed conflict would lead to a coup d'etat by disgruntled junior officers; the near total collapse of Mali’s army and most of its democratic institutions; the seizure of all of northern Mali by Tuareg rebels and foreign and local mujahideen;1 the precocious proclamation of an independent Azawad Republic; and the effective occupation of the north of the country by an alliance of Jihadi-Salafi movements who imposed their form of shari'a law on a suffering and largely recalcitrant population Those events happened very quickly, and their effects will be felt for years This article attempts to give an overview of the crisis in Mali as it unfolded through 2012, with particular attention to what was happening on the ground in Mali itself

95 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In recent decades peoples in the Sahara and Sahel have developed a new type of assault vehicle that is best known under the name of its most significant weapon, the Soviet-made Teknikal heavy machine gun as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In recent decades peoples in the Sahara and Sahel have developed a new type of assault vehicle that is best known under the name of its most significant weapon, the Soviet-made Teknikal heavy machine gun. During combat, the Tuareg in Mali and Niger make clever use of their driving skills and the prevailing winds to create a dust storm offering cover to combatants both as they attack and retreat (Klute 2001:501). The victims are left in confusion, in a haze of dust. Metaphorically, it might be said that the many players and observers of the Saharan front in the war on terror have been similarly overtaken. With the war on terror, interest in the remote corners of the world has increased. Where state control is weak or lacking altogether, terrorists can operate furtively without restraint. Afghanistan is a case in point, where so-called failed states provide an attractive sanctuary for terrorists. It is not surprising, therefore, that Africa, the continent with so many failing or failed states, is seen as a security risk. The American army has opened two African fronts within the framework of “Operation Enduring Freedom”, one of them being in the Horn of Africa, the other, the focus of this article, in the Sahara and Sahel. In the 1990s Al Qaeda was noticeably present in East Africa. Osama bin Laden stationed himself and his entourage for several years in the Sudan, organising military operations against American troops in Somalia. In 1998 there were bombings of the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. In 2003, in Algeria and northern Mali, an abduction drama lasting several months played out with the Algerian Al Qaeda-affiliated Groupe Salafiste pour la Predication et le Combat (GSPC), and 32 German, Swiss, and Dutch hostages as lead characters. 2 Furthermore, the Islamic grassroots organisation Tablighi Jama’at has been active in many areas of Africa since the late 1990s; some observers view it as a cover or at least as a stepping stone for Al Qaeda’s inroads to Africa. 3

77 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the past four decades the Tuareg, a people inhabiting the central Sahara, experienced dramatic socioeconomic upheaval caused by the national independence of the countries they inhabit, two droughts in the 1970s and 1980s, and prolonged rebellion against the state in Mali and Niger in the 1990s.
Abstract: In the past four decades the Tuareg, a people inhabiting the central Sahara, experienced dramatic socioeconomic upheaval caused by the national independence of the countries they inhabit, two droughts in the 1970s and 1980s, and prolonged rebellion against the state in Mali and Niger in the 1990s This article discusses these major upheavals and their results from the viewpoint of three groups of Tuareg intellectuals: the “organic intellectuals” or traditional tribal leaders and Muslim religious specialists; the “traditional intellectuals” who came into being from the 1950s onwards; and the “popular intellectuals” of the teshumara movement, which found its origins in the drought-provoked economic emigration to the Maghreb, and which actively prepared the rebellions of the 1990s By focusing on the debates between these intellectuals on the nature of Tuareg society, its organization, and the direction its future should take, the major changes in a society often described as guarding its traditions will be exposed

43 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The processus d'affranchissement des Touareg, autrefois esclaves, that l’on nomme generalement bellah, dans le Mali du nord, de la fin des annees 1940 a nos jours, and les relations actuelles entre les anciens maitres and les ancientens esclave.
Abstract: ResumeCet article esquisse le processus d’affranchissement des Touareg, autrefois esclaves, que l’on nomme generalement bellah, dans le Mali du nord, de la fin des annees 1940 a nos jours, et les relations actuelles entre les anciens maitres et les anciens esclaves. L’affranchissement des esclaves a ete mis en avant pour la premiere fois au cours des annees 1940 sous la pression des hommes politiques africains. Apres l’independance, ces derniers, contrairement a leur discours politique radical, ont poursuivi des politiques coloniales. Les secheresses du debut des annees 1970 et 1980 ont alimente la dynamique interne au sein de la societe targuie qui a alors relance sa campagne pour l’affranchissement des esclaves. Cet article accorde une attention toute particuliere a la nouvelle perception des notions de travail et de comportement social approprie, et aux transformations dans les relations sociales et politiques durant et apres la rebellion targuie. Durant toute la periode decrite, ces relations etaient ...

38 citations


Cited by
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism are discussed. And the history of European ideas: Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 721-722.

13,842 citations

Journal Article
Aaron Pollack1
TL;DR: This article argued that the British Empire was a " liberal" empire that upheld international law, kept the seas open and free, and ultimately benefited everyone by ensuring the free flow of trade.
Abstract: From a world history perspective, the most noticeable trend in the history of the late 19th century was the domination of Europeans over Non­Europeans. This domination took many forms ranging from economic penetration to outright annexation. No area of the globe, however remote from Europe, was free of European merchants, adventurers, explorers or western missionaries. Was colonialism good for either the imperialist or the peoples of the globe who found themselves subjects of one empire or another? A few decades ago, the answer would have been a resounding no. Now, in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the more or less widespread discrediting of Marxist and Leninist analysis, and the end of the Cold War, political scientists and historians seem willing to take a more positive look at Nineteenth Century Imperialism. One noted current historian, Niall Ferguson has argued that the British Empire probably accomplished more positive good for the world than the last generation of historians, poisoned by Marxism, could or would concede. Ferguson has argued that the British Empire was a \" liberal \" empire that upheld international law, kept the seas open and free, and ultimately benefited everyone by ensuring the free flow of trade. In other words, Ferguson would find little reason to contradict the young Winston Churchill's assertion that the aim of British imperialism was to: give peace to warring tribes, to administer justice where all was violence, to strike the chains off the slave, to draw the richness from the soil, to place the earliest seeds of commerce and learning, to increase in whole peoples their capacities for pleasure and diminish their chances of pain. It should come as no surprise that Ferguson regards the United States current position in the world as the natural successor to the British Empire and that the greatest danger the U.S. represents is that the world will not get enough American Imperialism because U.S. leaders often have short attention spans and tend to pull back troops when intervention becomes unpopular. It will be very interesting to check back into the debate on Imperialism about ten years from now and see how Niall Ferguson's point of view has fared! The other great school of thought about Imperialism is, of course, Marxist. For example, Marxist historians like E.J. Hobsbawm argue that if we look at the l9th century as a great competition for the world's wealth and …

2,001 citations

Book
01 Jan 1985

1,861 citations

Journal Article

1,449 citations