Unterstanding the Malian crisis from a Euro-Atlantic perspective

Guillaume Lasconjarias, NATO Defence College
From a NATO perspectove, what role shoul the Alliance play in this area, if any? While the African Union Chairman urged the Alliance to intervene, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen did not see a role for NATO, "even though a number of individual NATO allies are assisting France in Mali". However, the crisis there is of concern to NATO partners in the Mediterranean Dialogue: Algeria and Mauritania, in particular, are exposed to the threat of spillover. Will the problem remain primary confined to Mali - especially if and when French, Malian, and African forces press deeper into northern Mali?