In February 2022, France withdrew troops from Mali, where they had been stationed as part of Operation Barkhane, an anti-insurgency operation. Welcomed as liberators in 2013, the French military failed to prevent large swathes of Malian territory from falling into the hands of Islamists. This in-depth focus on France’s military intervention and the wider insurgency problem in the Sahel region interviews citizens, soldiers, politicians and analysts about this ongoing geopolitical issue.