The Sovereignty of Mali Towards France

Abstract

In a statement broadcast on malian television, government spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga announced that he was breaking off the defense agreements with France. This denunciation, which carries out a threat that has been in the air for months, is a further sign of the deteriorating relations between the authorities, dominated by the military who came to power by force in August 2020, and Mali's former allies in the fight against the jihadists. That said, the aim of this article is to give an account of the effects of France's violation of the independence, power and autonomy of the Malian state. With this objective in mind, the issues to be addressed in this paper are as follows: in the light of changes or transformations in international law, can it be said today that Malian sovereignty is still a guarantee of state autonomy in international relations? This question is justified in the light of changes or transformations in the law of international relations leading to the erosion and contestation of Malian sovereignty. The hypothesis of this analysis is as follows: Malian sovereignty has more or less been affected and infected by French military activities on its territory. This would lead to two results: firstly, a re-reading of the concept of sovereignty in context with regard to benevolence in the field of international relations law. Secondly, the fragmentation of the law of friendly relations between states through control over a state's internal activities.