“The Kurds of Africa”: How the Tuaregs Were Left Without Their Own State

This chapter shows how the dispersal of power is promoted at the grassroots level: here the focus is on the socio-political initiatives of the Tuaregs of the Sahel, in which they propose all kinds of confederation/federation options either to their fellow tribesmen or to the governments of the countries in whose territories they live. It is concluded that the central government of Mali and Niger, as well as Tuareg nationalists, again find themselves situational allies, since they have one main enemy—Islamist radical jihadists.