Securitización de la cooperación Internacional al desarrollo: El caso Sahelino de Mali y Níger.

Abstract

This article focuses on the impact of terrorist threats upon the elaboration and implementation of programs of international development cooperation addressed at countries considered to be cases of “failed states” –such as Mali and Niger in Africa. The first section elaborates an economic and environmental characterization of the Sahel region in order to examine the causes of current conflicts; state capabilities in both countries are discussed in order to assess the soundness of the “failed states” hypothesis. A critical reading is also conducted of the way the academic literature deals with the Sahel’s countries, as it depicts them as cases on “failed states” and consequently assessing a continuity from this alleged state failure to governmental collapse and to the breakdown of society –in spite of the absence of a consensual definition of “state failure”, thus sticking that label to a great variety of situations lacking a minimum of homogeneity or convergence. In the second section we deal with the irruption of Sahel as a strategic territory in the fight against new international threats such as international terrorism and organized crime; we also explore the impact of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the architecture of international cooperation to development as well the introduction of international security concerns leading to a securitization of official programs for cooperation, with the background of the increasing relevance of Sahel as a purveyor of energy and natural resources for both the US and competing extra regional actors.