Show Notes
As we eagerly await Aimen’s return to Conflicted next week, today Wassim Nasr returns to the show. As only Wassim can, he draws on his expertise of the Sahel to explain the remarkable events in Mali over the past several weeks — events which Aimen forecast on the show back in January.
Wassim explains:
France’s failed counterterrorism strategy in Mali
JNIM’s emergence from AQIM and local insurgencies
Iyad Ag Ghaly’s political and jihadist leadership
The junta’s repression and strategic miscalculations
The JNIM–FLA alliance in northern Mali
The 25 April 2026 coordinated attacks
Negotiating with Islamists after the War on Terror
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