January 2013. Making its way through the dunes of the Sahel desert, a column of pick-up trucks is spotted approaching Mali’s capital city of Bamako. The jihadists at the wheel, some of the region’s most dangerous, have sensed an opportunity amidst the country’s civil war. At the demand of its government, France launches Operation Serval and swiftly annihilates the coup plotters. This spectacular success of a counterinsurgency later gave way to Operation Barkhane, a longer-term effort to stabilize the larger Sahel, a region as vast as Europe itself, and prevent it from becoming a terrorist safe haven on the continent's doorstep. In spite of the bravery of the 5.000 French servicemen posted on the ground since, recent years have seen a return to instability. 160 people were murdered last week by jihadists in Northern Burkina Faso, whilst Mali is rocked by the second military coup in less than a year. Just as the US moves ahead with its scheduled withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, France seems embroiled in its own Sahelian version of “endless wars”. French Ambassador Gérard Araud and leading West Africa expert Michael Shurkin help us parse where we go from here. As always, rate and review Uncommon Decency on Apple Podcasts, and send us your comments or questions at @UnDecencyPod or uncommondecencypod@gmail.com.