Abstract

As this paper is written (July 2018) the violence in the central regions of Mali is increasing in intensity. The availability of modern small arms is destabilizing the sub-region as local belligerents engage in inter-community and intra-community violence. The conflict in the central regions since 2014 is not merely an extension of the civil war in the northern regions, but rather the instigating factors are based in historical events specific to the Centre: a history of conservative Islam, water and land scarcity resulting from climate change events, and liberalization of regional markets interact to drive conflict. We apply a multi-lens framework: the ‘New Wars’, new types of war, and a plural security perspective to analyze the threats and their drivers as they manifest in the central regions of Mali. We conclude that the conflict in the centre is distinct from the larger conflict in the northern regions. Additionally, further research on the conflict and eventual peace process in the centre must centre on local historical and socio-political and economic dynamics. It is necessary to understand drivers of the conflict to create a lasting peace.