“Military force is incapable of resolving the crisis in Mali”: is the political solution only a “viable path”?

As the Malian junta mourns the death of Defense Minister General Sadio CamaraIn, and thousands of people come to pay their respects, FRANCE 24’s François Picard welcomes Paul Melly, consultant for Chatham House’s Africa program and expert on the Sahel region. It offers a sobering assessment of Mali’s deepening crisis, framing current events in the context of both historical precedent and a radically altered geopolitical landscape. If the echoes of the Malian crisis of 2012 are unmistakable, “are we in the same situation as in 2012, when the French army had to intervene to save the Malian capital from the invasion of insurgents? asks François Picard.