In the past year, successive coups have toppled civilian governments in the Sahel amidst sustained popular protests. The present impasse is in part the manifestation of a multidimentional crisis of political and economic governance, of an electoral democracy that hinders meaningful participation, of a stagnant postcolonial state that has never fully exercised its full sovereign role. Beyond the immediate demands for security, the present impasse signals a call for a new political imaginary.
How can we understand the enduring presence of the army in Malian state over the past few years?
Are we witnessing a historical shift?
What possible, alternative pathways can the current opening/transition lead to?
how can the regional institutions be reformed in a way that reflects the complex outlook by African publics?
How must we rethink military intervention and the pursuit of ‘security’ in Mali and Africa more generally?
To what extent can the present crisis open a broader debate on decolonization?
A panel of prominent scholars, political and civil society figures will help us think through these and many other questions.