The Line and the Territory: modelling fragile border zones in the Sahel for a more inclusive border security management

This article discusses the representation of border areas in fragile and conflict-affected situations, particularly in the Sahel where borders have become spaces of competition between states and armed jihadist groups for the governance of border populations and cross-border movements. The spatial models available to represent border areas have many shortcomings, either because they are “administrative” and do not take into account the logics of movement that shape border spaces, particularly the movements of armed groups, or because they are too “naturalistic“, inspired by environmental sciences, and take little account of human geography and conflicts. The article proposes a spatial model based on the representation of movement and transport networks that are at the heart of the border economy and describes the policy and operational advantages of its application to border security.