The Atlas is based on an analysis of mapped regional security issues and development objectives to open the necessary dialogue between regional and international organizations, governments, researchers and local stakeholders tracks . The Sahara-Sahel has seen recurrent episodes of instability. However, the recent Libyan and Malian crises have intensified the level of violence. These episodes have restructured the geopolitical and geographical dynamics of the region. Cross-border or regional, these contemporary crises require new institutional responses. How can countries sharing this space -  Algeria, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Chad and Tunisia and all related states such as Nigeria - stabilize and develop?

Historically, the Sahara plays an intermediary role between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. Commercial and human exchanges are intense and based on social networks that now include trafficking. Understanding their structure, geographical and organizational mobility of criminal groups and migratory movements represents a strategic challenge.

This book hopes to address this challenge and stimulate strategies for the Sahel of the European Union, the United Nations, the African Union or ECOWAS (Economic Community of the States of West Africa) in order to foster lasting peace.( You can access the pocket edition through the link provided in our catalogue). The full text copy could be borrowed from our library.

Key messages
* Spatial, social and economic mobility is a key to understanding the dynamics in the Sahara-Sahel.
* The nature of conflict and instability has changed. Less locally confined and increasingly cross-border in nature, they call for regional and co-ordinated institutional responses.
*Threats caused by trafficking are as important as that of terrorism.
*The Sahara-Sahel has a role to play in the stability and development of all countries that share this space. Co-operation between these countries is vital.
*A part of the solution lies in reactivating circulation and promoting Trans-Saharan trade within a mutually beneficial co-operation in the political, economic and security fields.

This Atlas proposes a cartographic and regional analysis of security and development issues. It provides objective information for the necessary dialogue between regional and international organisations, states, researchers and local stakeholders.part i. reactivating a space of fragmented circulationChapter 1. Sahara-Sahelian space and geographyChapter 2. Socio-economic indicators within Sahara-Sahel countriesChapter 3. Petroleum and networks of influence in the Sahara-Sahelpart ii. Securing the Sahara-Sahel by integrating its social and spatial mobilityChapter 4. Ancient and new mobility in the Sahara-SahelChapter 5. Migration and the SaharaChapter 6. Nomadism and mobility in the Sahara-SahelChapter 7. Borders, cross-border co-operation and freedom of movement in the Sahara-SahelChapter 8. Security issues, movement and networks in the Sahara-SahelChapter 9. Trafficking economies in the Sahara-SahelChapter 10. An institutional point of view on the challenges of the Sahara-Sahel