In the context of the collaboration between the IIRF and the School of International Relations of the Latin American University of Science and Technology (ULACIT) of Costa Rica, students of the course “International Political Economy” developed an analysis of the relationship between religious freedom and development. This post is part of a Blog Series published as the students’ contribution to the IIRF.
Authors:
- Alexander Porras
- Ariadna Solano
- David Rojas
- Marco Comandini
The Sahel region is a territory that is facing a serious crisis marked by conflict, that recently there have been reports of brutal attacks, causing to deaths of a lot of people and leading to a massive forced displacement crisis, particularly the IDP’s who have been displaced by this conflict. Not long ago extremist attacks in countries like Burkina Faso left dozens of dead people. This lets us know how deep and complicated the relationship between religious freedom and political and economic matters is, because while we see how the region struggles with violent groups and financial problems, these issues feed into each other, creating a cycle of conflict. That’s why in this blog post, we’ll explain how the fight for religious freedom connects with the economic and political challenges in the Sahel Region.
Geographical and Historical Context
The Sahel region is a big area that stretches across the northern part of Africa, it acts as a big transition zone between the Sahara Desert and the savannas, there are 5 key countries in the Sahel that play a big role including Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mauritania. The Sahel has really difficult environmental conditions like frequent dry periods and a lot of heat this makes life conditions difficult for the people that live there, also, the Sahel is recognized for its cultural variety with a blend of ethnicities like the Tuareg, Fulani, and Hausa, who coexist despite occasional tensions.
Historical Overview
The roots of the Sahel conflict can be traced back to the colonial period when European powers particularly France, divided the region into artificial boundaries that did not took into consideration the ethnic and cultural differences after gaining independence in the 1960s the formed nations had difficulties like weak governance, corruption, and others, these issues of course caused instability and spread extremist ideologies.
In the early 2000s some militant groups like Al-Qaeda began to expand their control in the region, these groups took advantage of the lack of government control in remote areas, the fall of Libya’s Gaddafi regime in 2011 also destabilize the Sahel, as it led to an entry of weapons and fighters into the region, this instability was most evident in Mali where a takeover in 2012 created a power that allowed militant groups to take control of the northern part of the country.
Current State
Today, the Sahel region remains one of the most dangerous areas in the world, extremist groups like Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, and the Islamic State in the Sahara continue to carry out attacks, they not only target the governments but also civilians the violence has led to a major displacement and migration with millions of people forced to flee their homes, many of these people live in overcrowded camps with limited access to necessities like food, water, and healthcare.
Religious Freedom in the Sahel
Historically, the region has been a place where Islam, Christianity, and traditional African religions have coexisted peacefully. However, this harmony is now under threat due to extremist groups like the Islamic State targeting Christians and other minority religions, while government policies shaped by a colonial history of secularism, are pushing religious communities to the sidelines. Sahel countries have laws that promise religious freedom, but in practice, things are completely different, and the influence of many Western powers like France, adds continuously tension, giving the extremist group an excuse to carry out their attacks.
Political Economy of the Sahel
The Sahel region is facing significant economic challenges, mostly characterized by a lot of poverty, unemployment and lack of infrastructure, many of the countries in the Sahel have some of the lowest Human Development Index, agriculture is frequently disrupted by the climate leading to food insecurity and limited economic growth.
Politically the Sahel has weak governance a lot of corruption and others, governments in the region struggle to have control over the territories and it makes it difficult to provide essential services, the ongoing conflict in the Sahel worsen these economic and political issues, violence disrupts, and trade and agriculture leads to further economic downfall.
The Intersection of Religious Freedom and Political Economy
Complex Dynamics
The Sahel region ranging from Senegal to Sudan is a complicated and multifaceted region where religion and political economy meet and interact in many ways in a volatile manner, the regional conflicts in the Sahel region are intertwined with religious, ethnic, and economic factors. In this manner religious freedom is often compromised by political instability, economic hardship, and the rise of extremism, dynamics that create a vicious cycle with economic hardship fueling extremism, which in turn exacerbates political instability in the region.
In this manner economic marginalization can drive groups to seek empowerment through religious movements, adopting extremist ideas. In countries like Niger and Mali, where structures are weak and economic opportunities are limited, religious movements tend to fill the void left by the government and the state. This leads to situations where these groups gain the power to influence the economy and political area of the country.
The political economy of the region also shapes religious freedom in important ways. For example, the resource rich areas like the north of Mali see constant conflicts over who controls them, conflicts that often intersect with religious and ethnic identities, in certain situations governments may align themselves with specific religious groups for political support, which in many cases leads to the marginalization of other religious communities. Thus, the political economy can directly and indirectly impact and contribute to the cycle of conflict in the region, causing problems for religious freedom.
Case Studies
Mali: The fall of the Libyan regime in 2011 led to an influx of weapons and fighters in the country, followed by the Tuareg rebellion that saw a rise of Islamist extremists, with a combination of Tuareg separatists and Islam extremists taking control in the north of the country, all these leading to a weakened Malian state with economic problems and corrupt politics lacking the power and capability to keep control of its territories, creating a vacuum that extremist groups took advantage of.
Niger: The country faces a situation in where the fight for control over uranium and gold has intersected with religious and ethnic identities. Where these resources are concentrated, Muslim Tuaregs, have been marginalized by the central government, economic marginalization that has led to cases of resentment and support of extremist groups. The government crackdown on religious freedom against those who oppose its resource management policies has only exacerbated tensions. The coup against the democratically elected president of Niger Mohamed Bazoum by his own people is only one more example of the instability around the region and in Niger specifically.
Analysis
The relationship between religious freedom and political economy in the Sahel region is deeply rooted in colonial history, socio-cultural economy, and enduring economic challenges.
The colonial history in the Sahel has left a fragmented political landscape, borders often cut across ethnic and religious lines. Colonial powers left behind inequalities that continue to influence the political economy in the region. The region is also home to a variety of cultures and religions, Islam, Christianity, and traditional African religions, this variety is a strength and a weakness for the region creating tensions and discontent with how economic resources are distributed, as such religious leaders get to play a major role in the peace or the conflicts of the region.
Addressing the conflict requires a multi-faceted approach that demands the management of both religious and economic hardship in a positive manner, promoting religious freedom and economic growth at the same time, it is crucial to recognize the complication of the situation and to avoid simplistic solutions.
Implications for Policy and Practice
Sahel is surrounded by several problems regarding political instability, terrorism, and radicalism based on religion. This section of the blog post will look at realizable policy reforms useful in enhancing religious freedom and achieving political stability in this volatile region; the role of the world actors; and the prospects for a region regarded as volatile.
Policy Suggestions and Perspectives for the Stability of the Sahel
- Strengthening Governance and Rule of Law: Unfortunately, Sahelian countries display poorly developed formal institutions, and the insidious problem of corruption is one of the main causes of the power vacuum that is promptly occupied by radical movements. Decentralization can enhance good governance to a certain extent by enabling local governments to manage their affairs effectively and meet the clients’ needs. Further, the uncompromising anti-corruption measures and the strengthening of the norms of political transparency within the bureaucracies are considered to be important actions towards restoring and creating the citizens’ trust in the government capacity to use the state resources effectively and properly.
- Promoting Inclusive Dialogue and National Reconciliation: In order to achieve sustainable peace, people have to transform the vectors that have been triggering conflict situations. As to this, it is possible to undertake interfaith dialogues with the hope of fostering better understanding and acceptance by one religious group for another. Determining a national reconciliation committee may solve the problem of past grievances in ethno-religious conflict and assure that the downtrodden groups of the society are included in the political process and every person has the right to determine what he/she wants for the country.
- Educational Reforms: Education therefore is a central part of determining the future of the Sahel. Specifically, new curricula that contain aspects of religious tolerance, responsibilities of citizens, and policies on resolving conflicts can assist in raising a generation that will be suited for the challenges facing the region. Another area that needs to be controlled is religious schools called madrasas so that they do not become centers for nurturing intolerance.
- Economic Development and Employment: This is because the economic activities that could have provided an economic base for the growth of the society are lacking most especially for the youths hence becoming a reason for instabilities. Thus, youth employment initiatives aimed at youths in rural areas can offer other sources of employment apart from joining radical groups. However, education and addressing problems such as healthcare, and the availability of clean water can provide human beings with something to hold on to and sway them away from violent ideologies that find fertile ground in troubled societies.
- Counter-Terrorism and Security Cooperation: Situation security in the Sahel is not very stable meaning that there is always need for coordinated action. African security cooperation frameworks explaining improvement of cooperation between Sahelian states for neutralizing terrorism and organized crime are significant. Involving heads of communities in implementation of community policing programs is also useful in addressing such issues because it generates culture sensitive policing programs and structures thus addressing the issue of peaceful security.
The Role of the International Community
The problems affecting the Sahel region are enormous and cannot be solved by one country on its own. The role of the international community is immense given the fact that it is made up of international organizations, governments, and NGOs.
- International Organizations: Players such as the United Nations can participate in peace-keeping and nation building, concentrating on building afresh the structures of the state. As the organization representing 53 African states, the African Union has the political mandate and historical responsibility to spearhead such regional initiatives in cooperation with Sahel’s countries.
- Governments: Many governments partly or primarily of the Euro-American type like the French or the American government have been involved in the Sahel. On bilateral aid, these countries can offer specific support to the affected countries regarding the economic growth and political structure and security. In the same manner, political diplomacy serves as a key driver of change, particularly, in exerting pressures on Sahelian governments for adopting more liberal policies that respect religious diversity as well as minority privileges.
- Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs): Human rights and development aspects are especially tackled well by NGOs in conflict. Thus, NGOs can advocate with human rights bodies and collect information on abuses to report them back to other international or local authorities. This being the case, at the community level, NGOs can achieve the noble goals of peace building, education as well as economic recovery and hence improve the standards of those affected by the conflict.
Future Outlook and Mitigation Strategies
The future of the Sahel is unpredictable, however, the current and future crises can be prevented if the following options are considered.
- Potential Developments: Hence, the Sahel is most probable to undergo repeated cycles of violence if the existing poverty, weak governance, and religious extremism are not resolved. Unless check and balances are placed rightly, the extremist groups may add more territory into their belt and makes the region even more vulnerable and threatening for neighboring states. Also, chronic instability may result in large-scale movements of people, which can worsen human suffering and put more pressure on neighboring states.
- Mitigation Strategies: To change this cycle the international society should continue supporting the country, however, sustained long-term support is impossible, while short-term relief measures are implemented that fail to address the problem. One of the major factors that continue to push youths in the Sahel region towards associates of extreme groups is because they do not have anything better to do, hence, the need to provide education and employment opportunities for our youths so that they would not be lured into joining the associates of such groups. On the basis of the achieved empirical results, it is crucial to stress that the issue of realizing a viable long-term strategy in the context of the Sahel region requires a comprehensive approach entailing military, economic, and diplomatic strategies that should be complemented by the cultural and religious platforms.
Conclusion
Analyzing the issues referred to in this blog post, it is easy to conclude that all of the problems in the Sahel are connected. The constantly evolving fight for independence is not rooted in seething religion or the urge to survive economic precarity. It is not this and is not that; it is those and many more; when put into a cycle, they bounce off each other and cause instability and violence. It is still impossible not to notice the fact that the existing ethnic and cultural cleavages that drive the conflict were artificially drawn by the colonial powers and that the political and economic structures of the region that develop from these splits can today still be tracked to their origins.
Perhaps the most notorious finding we have made is how much of economic marginality in the Sahel region has amplified managerial and theological divisions. This leads to the explosion of different extreme movements that have one thing to offer to unhappy people – a job and purpose in life, even though this purpose is criminal and destructive. These groups, in turn, exacerbate the insecurity situation and render the region even less conducive to the kind of stability which economic development requires. This is of course a very disturbing cycle, one that has to be broken if there is any chance of achieving a sustainable stability in the Sahel region. Fixing the economic problems of the area in question is not a matter of handing out alms, but about fostering proper growth that will give the people the means to look after themselves and keep the fanatics at bay.
Another important dimension which cannot be turned a blind eye at is the religious liberty aspect. In the Sahelian area more particularly, various religious practices apply, and this is why it is paramount to guarantee the safety of all the parties so that they can freely practice their religion. However, the recent years have seen the utterances of extremism that has negated this very freedom, denotes violence, and continues to push minorities into even more isolation. Of course, we acknowledge that religious freedom is not only the problem of human rights, but also the major factor of the stabilization of the region in the case of its consideration. Ensuring recognition of this freedom is also achieved through legal measures outlying civil liberties to work for interfaith dialogue.
When looking at the context of the Sahel conflict at large it therefore becomes clear that these are not issues that can be solved in isolation. One cannot just treat the symptoms, there is need to treat the disease and the diseases are weak governance, corruption, and no more economic opportunities. Fighting corruption, supporting democracy and human rights, focusing on education and infrastructure development are main directions towards the stable development of Sahel. In addition, the international partner has a significant role to play in reinforcing such endeavors, but we have to recognise that we must contain our interference while at the same time being culturally wise.
Finally, we remain with the message of the seriousness of the situation in the Sahel region. When footballers reflect on their decisions in the future no one will be able to say that they did not take a conscious decision about the future of the region. Solutions to the multifaceted challenges of the Sahel remain elusive, and therefore, we need to devote more efforts to studying the area, understand it, and act together. Only by involving all the stakeholders, governments, NGOs, local communities, and the international society, a way to peace and stability can be outlined. It is therefore time for all of us to play our part as citizens in supporting all actors in the construction of a better Sahel.