Mali’s Crisis is Not What it Seems

As we eagerly await Aimen’s return to Conflicted next week, today Wassim Nasr returns to the show. As only Wassim can, he draws on his expertise of the Sahel to explain the remarkable events in Mali over the past several weeks — events which Aimen forecast on the show back in January.

Wassim explains:

France’s failed counterterrorism strategy in Mali

JNIM’s emergence from AQIM and local insurgencies

Iyad Ag Ghaly’s political and jihadist leadership

The junta’s repression and strategic miscalculations

The JNIM–FLA alliance in northern Mali

The 25 April 2026 coordinated attacks

Negotiating with Islamists after the War on Terror

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

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