188 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies Núm. 13 / 2019 on the international political scene — and were taken little notice of — in the 1980s, during the conflict between the USA and the USSR: guerrilla fighters, drug lords, mercenaries, self-defence militias, pirates, etc. They have now adapted to the situation. Today, these actors adopt corporate brands as the case fits and follow game rules that are coherent with globalisation. In the Sahel a new bellum omnium contra omnes is taking place, and in this “state of nature” the gravitational point of the threat is not concurrent with a particular en-emy, but diffused across the whole relational structure: Islamic terrorism, ethnic/tribal conflicts, international illicit trafficking, control of primary resources, competition between economic-financial systems and regional systems. All these factors converge and create instability. In this way, the threat is constituted by the very interconnection of these interests, giving rise to a globalised enemy that takes on one face or another depending on the interest at hand, its structure Hydra-like – fluid and quick to adapt. In this era of “uncertainty”16, the concepts enemy and conflict thus constitute a com-plex issue and do not present themselves as an absolute otherness of values which are antithetical to ours; “what is different” does not exist, but rather is reduced to a prob-lem of cultural incomprehension which makes it impossible to discern a single and incontestable political solution17. In this perspective, the realistic focus of the response therefore needs to identify relational dynamics that are able to mitigate the potential of conflict. The Sahel is the ideal postmodern fighting ground for a system of permanent con-flict, without the factors of the “cycle of security”: development, security and human rights18. If stability and development sustainability are the indispensable conditions for human safety19, their absence in the Sahel has reached critical levels. The structural vulnerabilities which are common to these countries interact with their political, soci-oeconomic and cultural variables as well as with the way these societies manage their relevant resources. This interaction is driving a severe process of desertification, not only environmentally speaking, but also in a political, social and identity sense. These vulnerabilities, which are made worse by the population explosion, are added to political instability and to the interests of external actors, defining the combination 16 GALBRAITH, John, Kenneth. The age of uncertainty. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1977. 17 D´ANGELO, Valerio. “Hostis antes portas. El poder, la guerra y la figura del enemigo en las relaciones internacionales”, Revista UNISCI, n.38, 2015, p.64. Available at: https://goo.gl/tjCsxZ (consulted on: 2 May 2018). 18 The former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has been insisting for over ten years on the need to simultaneously address the three fundamental issues: development, security and human rights. See United Nations: “In larger freedom: towards development, security and human rights for all”, Report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, A/59/2005, New York, p.6. 19 UNITED NATIONS. Human Security in Theory and Practice. An Overview of the Human Security Concept and the United Nation Trust Fund for Human Security. New York: UN Human Security Unit, 2009. Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos n.º 13 - Año: 2019 - Págs.: 181 a 212
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