Unmet Hopes to Govern mali’s persistent Crisis /

Through multidisciplinary and multidimensional analyses of the situation and opportunities for action, through a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods and with a team of eight expert researchers, the initiative seeks to establish the connections and relationships between multiple variables, notably the links between conflict dynamics and those of international intervention. [...] In light of the international actors’ central preoccupation with restoring the authority of the Malian State, a contextualized understanding is crucial of the bureaucratic, political, and perceptual challenges that the State faces, not merely to stabilize itself, but to face the transformations that will be necessary to sustain stability. [...] A brief methods discussion is followed by the context of the past five years, together with issues raised by the current status of the Accord implementation process, in particular how the issue of inclusivity is managed, and reflected in public discourse. [...] The interpretations here of the complexity of the current situation, its many categories of actors, and significant intangibles, are thus built on over 20 years of personal and professional relationships with Malians from six of Mali’s regions. [...] Unfulfilled election commitments in 2013, and the handling of the drafting, signing, and lackluster implementation of the 2015 “Accord for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, resulting from the Algiers Process” (“hereafter Accord”), have eroded confidence in the current government.