Khabenskaya E.O. Senegal and Guinea-Bissau in the 2000s: from confrontation to alliance

Abstract: Using the method of historical reconstruction, E. Khabenskaya analyzes the changes in the relations changes between two neighboring West African countries in connection with the new Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade coming to power. Diplomatic talents allowed the new leader to change radically the vector of these relationships in favor of Senegal. The changes in Senegal and Guinea-Bissau internal and foreign policy in the 2000s., as well as the dynamics of the Casamance conflict in this period, compose the object of the study. This Senegal's southern region, geographically, culturally and historically linked to Guinea-Bissau, for decades has been the main factor in the relations between two countries. Factors of the formation and the subsequent collapse of the Senegal–Guinea-Bissau political alliance is the subject of the research. The author concludes that the strongest economic crisis and political isolation of Guinea-Bissau contributed to Wade's success in the establishment of Senegal's influence in Bissau in the first half of the 2000s. The methodolody of the research includes the systems approach, the structural-functional and comparative-political approaches, the methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction and observation. By 2009, Senegal had lost its influence in Bissau after another government change in this country, which led to Guinea-Bissau's foreign relations diversification and its gradual reorientation to Angola. At present, the relations betwen these two countries are in crisis again. However, the unsolved problem of the Casamance will continue to force both leaders to seek the ways to overcome the contradictions.

Keywords: