It will soon be 5 years since French troops landed in Mali, to help the pathetic government there defeat Islamist terrorists who had seized the northern third of the country.  The Islamists have been pushed back, but ethnic tensions continue, and does fighting between northern Malian Tuaregs and Central and Southern Malians. The Malian government is still pathetic and if anything, less popular, and the French are still on duty. And the UN peacekeeping force that supplements has the highest death rate of any UN forces presently serving. Michael Shurkin of the RAND Corporation has an in depth look at trouble in Mali