SUMMARY
In 1968, Moussa Traoré became president of Mali when Modibo Keita was ousted in a military coup. Traoré initially headed a military council, but soon established a one-party rule under his authoritarian control. He was several times re-elected to the presidency standing as the only candidate. In late 1990, the first cohesive opposition parties emerged and large pro-democracy demonstrations developed into riots in late 1990 and early 1991. The political turmoil culminated in the ouster of President Traoré in a coup led by Col. Amadou Touré in March 1991. Touré promoted a transition towards democracy. After the establishment of a transitional civilian government led by former UN official Soumana Sacko, Malis first democratic presidential elections were held in 1992. Alpha Konaré was elected president and stepped down in 2002 after his second term, as stipulated by the constitution. The former coup leader Amadou Toumani Touré (commonly referred to as ATT) succeeded him and also prevailed in the 2007 elections.
After the relatively stable 1990s and 2000s, the following decade was more turbulent. In 2012, discontent with ATT’s rule grew, as the army suffered repeated and quick military defeats, when both the conflict over government and the conflict over Azawad resumed. There were widespread protests in the capital, Bamako, culminating in a coup on 22 March, with a group of junior officers under Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo. ATT was smuggled out of the country, and Sanogo subsequently seized power and proclaimed the formation of a national committee for the rebuilding of democracy and the restoration of the state (CNRDRE). However, Sanogo was not able to hold on to power for long, at least not officially. The coup had led to economic sanctions and a blockade by ECOWAS, and Sanogo soon agreed to cede power to Dioncounda Traoré, who was to serve as interim president until elections could be held. However, Sanogo’s junta made it clear that it was only stepping aside temporarily and it retained real influence. This was demonstrated by the fact that the junta arrested Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra in December 2012, forcing him to resign. Tensions between Sanogo and Diarra had increased due to the former’s support of an ECOWAS intervention force to northern Mali; the armed forces were against foreign military intervention and favored financial and logistical support. Django Sissoko was quickly appointed as new Prime Minister, and his new government included several ministers that were associated with Sanogo and his junta, which also served to illustrate that they remained influential behind the scenes.
The interim presidency of Diancounda Traoré came to an end with the July-August 2013 elections, which were won by Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta (commonly referred to as IBK). IBK subsequently came to rule the country until August 2020, appointing no less than six prime minister during this time. Public discontent with IBK’s rule became increasingly vocal from June 2020 onward. Protestors called for his resignation, citing the government's management of the conflicts against JNIM and IS, alleged government corruption, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and a floundering economy. In August, sections of the armed forces carried out a coup, arresting both IBK and the current prime minister, Boubou Cissé. Around midnight on 18 August, the president resigned and dissolved the government and parliament. Subsequently, the “National Committee for the Salvation of the People”, headed by Captain Assimi Goita, announced that it had seized power. Goita had previously headed Malian Special Forces fighting in central Mali. On 12 September, the junta agreed to an 18-month political transition to civilian rule. A little over a week later, Bah Nawa was appointed interim president during the transitional period, with Goita serving as vice-president. On 24 May 2021, a new coup took place, ousting the civilian transitional government that had briefly ruled the country. Subsequently, Colonel Assimi Goïta took over as interim president of Mali. During his rule, the country moved in an increasingly autocratic direction, with Goïta indefinitely postponing elections in 2024, and dissolving all political parties in May 2025. Furthermore, in June the National Transisional Council (established after the 2020 coup to replace the National Assembly as a legislative body) approved a revised transition charter giving Goïta a renewable five-year mandate and allowing the transition to continue without elections until unspecified conditions are met.
As of 2025, Mali’s armed forces consisted of a 19 000-strong army, a 2000-strong Air force, and a 20 000-strong paramilitary and gendarmerie.
Since the outbreak of fighting in 2012, the country has received substantial military support from other states. For a long time, the main foreign player was France. Prior to the outbreak of fighting, the two states had a security partnership, defined by a technical cooperation agreement, signed in 1985, which provided for possible deployments of French soldiers on training missions or under operations supervised by Malian army command. When Ansar Dine, AQIM and MUJAO launched a southern offensive in January 2013, Bamako called on France to send troops. French President Francois Hollande agreed and Operation Serval was launched, with France deploying 1700 troops. A couple of months later, a bilateral security pact provided French forces the legal right to act of Malian territory. The operation ended on 15 July 2014, and was replaced by Operation Barkhane, launched on 1 August 2014 with the broader goal of fighting Islamists in the Sahel. In total, Operation Barkhane included 5100 French troops, deployed in five Sahel countries. Over the following seven years, Barkhane remained instrumental in fighting islamist groups in Mali. However, relations between France and Mali soured due to the democratic backsliding caused by the 2020- and 2021 coups, coupled with the junta’s strengthened ties to Russia, and in August 2022, the last French soldier left Mali.
Aside from France, AFISMA (the African-led International Support Mission to Mali), the ECOWAS-organized military mission that had been authorized with UN Security Council Resolution 2085 in late 2012, was also deployed in January 2013. Including troops from a number of ECOWAS countries, AFISMA was mandated to do a range of different things, notably to support Mali in recovering the areas in the north under the control of “terrorist, extremist and armed groups”. On 1 July of that year, MINUSMA (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali) took over from AFISMA. MINUSMA had been established by Security Council resolution 2100 on April 25, 2013 and under the terms of this resolution, the mission would perform a range of activities, e.g. support the political process and carry out a number of security-related stabilization tasks, protect civilians, assist in preparations of free, inclusive and peaceful elections and help extend state authority. MINUSMA remained in the country until December 2023, when the mission withdrew after pressure from the military government.
In addition to these international missions, the Malian government also cooperated militarily with a number of neighboring states, which faced the same jihadi groups. This cooperation was carried out under the auspices of the so-called G5 Sahel joint force (FC-G5S), which was set up by the Sahel's five countries - Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Mali and Mauritania - in February 2017, as a means of settling the armed conflicts in the region. In 2022, Mali, together with fellow- Sahelian military-ruled countries Burkina Faso and Niger, left this military framework and instead formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). In 2024, this mutual defense alliance was in turn transformed into a formal confederation, the Confederation of Sahel States.
Finally, Mali’s relationship with Russia deepened following the country’s coups. In 2022-23, the regime contracted Wagner Group to assist in the rebellions it faced. In 2024, Wagner Group was replaced by Africa Corps,a paramilitary force directly controlled by Russia’s Ministry of Defense. Their exact number in Mali is not publicly confirmed, but most recent estimates put it at roughly 1 500.
