Author: Bipasha Bhardwaj

France entered the Sahel to manage the risks cascading onto Europe in the form of the terrorist threat, refugee issues and trafficking. The Sahel region (comprising countries in West Africa such as Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Mauritania, Mali) has been witnessing terrorism for a decade. The region provides a safe haven to terror groups due to the instability caused by internal governance issues, economic deterioration and unravelling social cohesion.

In the past few years, the Taliban has shown itself to be the only power capable of establishing control in parts of Afghanistan. The US saw this 'writing on the wall' as they sought to legitimize the Taliban, especially since the Doha events from 2017.

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad) is in the news once again with the visit of high-ranking US officials to Asia this month - most particularly Secretary of state Anthony Blinken’s trip to India.