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This PhD investigates the development of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, with a particular focus on the distinction between terrorism and insurgency. The findings have been published in five peer-reviewed articles, and are joined by an introductory framework and a concluding chapter. The scene-setter contextualizes the problem of terrorism in Mali, describes the fragmented landscape of jihadist groups, analyzes how Tuareg separatism led to AQIM's control of northern Mali, and illustrates how shortcomings in national and local governance fueled insecurity. The second conceptual article analyzed whether AQIM should be regarded as terrorism, insurgency or organized crime, and concluded that - at the time of writing (2016) - most indicators pointed to the group following a strategy of terrorism. A treatise on methodology investigated the discrepancy between the international community's perception of Mali pre-2012 as a stable 'posterboy for democracy', while it was Mali that suffered a near-complete collapse in 2012. It concluded that a quantitative risk approach, rather than a qualitative threat approach, contributed to this misperception. The fourth article applied the first trinity from Clausewitz’s opus On War to Operation Serval, the French military operation to oust AQIM from northern Mali in 2013. Clear political goals, contingency planning, an audacious military operation combined with luck all helped France secure an initial victory against AQIM. The final article focused on potential pathways for AQIM to end, and concluded that in 2021 AQIM followed a strategy of insurgency, while much of the international response remained rooted in the paradigm of counterterrorism.

Emmanuel Macron hat während seiner ersten Amtszeit (2017-2022) versucht, sich von altbekannten, weithin kritisierten Mustern französischer Afrikapolitik abzusetzen. Er diversifizierte die Beziehungen zu Afrika in regionaler und inhaltlicher Hinsicht, inte­grierte nicht-staatliche Akteure und pflegte einen vergleichsweise offenen Um­gang mit Frankreichs problematischer Vergangenheit auf dem Kontinent. Das Narra­tiv des Wandels, das Paris vor allem über Kanäle der Public Diplomacy verbreitet hat, wurde jedoch von Pfadabhängigkeiten überlagert, sichtbar vor allem an der Fort­setzung des gescheiterten militärischen Engagements im Sahel und an einem politisch inkohärenten Auftreten gegenüber autoritären Regierungen. Ein Resultat war der un­freiwillige militärische Abzug aus Mali im August 2022, der eine historische Zäsur in den fran­zösisch-afrikanischen Beziehungen darstellt.