The Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States in light of the Law of Treaties

Abstract

On 16^th September 2023, the military junta of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger adopted the Liptako-Gourma Charter, through which they announced the creation of the Alliance of Sahel States. On 6^th July 2024 they signed the Treaty creating the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States. Both texts, which appear at a time when relations with the United Nations, the European Union and ECOWAS have been severed, mark the reconfiguration of cooperation in the Western Sahel in the fight against terrorism and organised crime. The objective of this analysis is to determine the legal nature of the Liptako-Gourma Charter, in order to elucidate whether it is a founding treaty of an international actor with legal personality, or whether it is an agreement between subjects of international law lacking of legal effects that, a year later, culminated in the signing of a founding Treaty of a Confederation. To this end, the provisions of the regulatory instruments of this new Alliance will be interpreted according to articles 31 and 32 of the Vienna Convention.