The government of Mali has officially severed diplomatic ties with Ukraine. Ukraine is a country in eastern Europe; Mali is located in the Sahel region of Africa. Their political and commercial relationships are, to put it mildly, not intense, neither in a positive nor – until now – a negative sense. Kiev does not even maintain an embassy in Bamako, Mali’s capital, despite having them in a number of other African states; Mali has no diplomatic mission in Ukraine either. At first sight, it is hard to understand how two countries that have so little to do with each other could even have managed to get into such a clash.

But leave it to Kiev to shoot itself in the foot. The strange falling-out is entirely due to Ukraine. Its leadership’s aggressive, arrogant, and shortsighted actions have left Bamako hardly any other option but to, in effect, tell Kiev to get lost. While this may appear to be a comparatively localized issue, that impression is misleading. In reality, Ukraine’s crude treatment of the African nation has wider significance because it is emblematic of its inability to persuade the Global South or even address it in a respectful manner.

But first things first. Here’s what happened: In late July, troops fighting for Mali’s government, from its own military and Russia's Wagner organization, were ambushed in the north of the country, close to the town of Tinzaouaten. The attackers also consisted of two different but – at least, de facto – cooperating forces: There were Tuareg insurgents, representing a long-standing separatist rebellion going back to 2012, organized in the CSP-DPA (Cadre Stratégique Pour la Défense du Peuple de l’Azawad). In addition, al-Qaeda-affiliated Jihadist terrorists operating under the label JNIM (Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin) also struck.

Details of this battle are still not entirely clear.........

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