Modern wars are often explained through ideology, ethnicity, or geopolitics. Mali’s conflict contains all three. But beneath these structural forces lies another layer: the individuals who reshaped the country after the collapse of the post-2012 political order.
At moments of prolonged confrontation, diplomacy tends to shrink. It becomes cautious, procedural, and trapped in familiar patterns—sanctions met with defiance, negotiations reduced to technicalities, and breakthroughs postponed in favor of temporary fixes. The long standoff between Iran and the United States is a case in point.
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