Institutional Choice, Risk, and Control: The G5 Sahel and Conflict Management in the Sahel

Abstract

ABSTRACT Using institutional choice theory, this article seeks to explain why the G5 Sahel, an international organization that comprises Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, was created in 2014 and tasked to deal with conflict management in the Sahel through its Joint Force that was established in 2017. While the use of the theory offers crucial insights into the creation of the G5 Sahel, I also find that the theory overestimates the costs and risks attached to the creation of a new institution while underestimating the desire of states to maintain control over actions on the ground – at least when it comes to security questions.