France's military intervention in Mali represented a shift in the country's foreign policy.
But the advance of the rebel Islamic forces southward toward the capital Bamako may have been the turning point for the French, said Cooke.
The fear of a rebellion in the south of Mali threatens to turn the Sahel region into a haven for terrorists, drug traffickers, hostage takers, Cooke said, and could further destabilize neighboring countries of Niger and Mauritania.
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