The Role of France and the USA in Battling Instability in Mali and Niger in the Years 2005-2014

The Sahel is one of the most unstable and underdeveloped region of the world. In Niger and Mali situation worsened after the year 2011 because of of the political vacuum, emerged after the overthrow of Gaddafi. Among basic problems of Mali and Niger, causing instability, can be named poverty, security troubles (uncontrolled extensive borders, terrorism), ethnic conflicts and misgovernance. This paper is concentrated on the US and French activities in solving those problems. The aim of the paper is thus defining of the basic problems causing instability of Niger and Mali, and analyse military and development aid aimed at solving those problems by the USA and France in years 2005-2014.