ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the 2012 takeover of northern Mali by a coalition of jihadi groups and secessionist rebels, which caught much of the world by surprise. Analyzing social survey and media discourses, the author shows that while armed jihadists have been present in Malian territory since the early 2000s, Malians have widely divergent views of these groups and the threat they pose to the Malian state. While members of Mali’s political class consider separatists the main security threat, Western governments and specialists prioritize the fight against transnational Islamist organizations.
