Concerns Over Mali Intervention on the Rise

Could radicalize the population

WASHINGTON, Dec 18 2012 (IPS) - Even as U.S. and French officials suggest that a United Nations resolution on military intervention in Mali could come by the end of the week, concerns are rising that such action could do far more harm than good.

"Mali is a threat only if you want it to be – there is a real risk of this becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy, really radicalising the situation," Michael Shurkin, a political scientist with the RAND Corporation, a Defence Department-aligned think tank in Washington, told a panel discussion here on Tuesday.