October 2011
By Laurent Bossard, SWAC Secretariat
The Sahara is a shared space whose risks and opportunities cannot be tackled without strong transregional co-operation. North African and Sahelian challenges cannot and should not be dealt with separately. In the short-term, it must of course be a priority to “re-conquer” and stabilize the area so that businesses and people can feel secure. In the long run, however, it is much more difficult and more expensive to militarily control an unsettled area than to develop a vibrant economic area