the un stabilization mission in mali (minusma): caught in the geopolitical crossfire

The book will focus on telling (and analyzing) the story of the UN multidimensional stabilization operation in Mali (MINUSMA), which will be closing at the end of the 2023 (and liquidating in 2024) after almost a decade of existence. MINUSMA, which is the UN operation that has by far attracted the most media attention (particularly in Europe), has been the laboratory of contemporary peacekeeping, combining several interesting elements. It came on the tail of a French-African military intervention (rehashing African contingents from AFISMA), operated ’in parallel’ to various counterterrorism forces (Barkhane and JF G5 Sahel). It has been the deadliest peace operation due to asymmetric threats but has also managed to adapt to a new environment and has witnessed a ’return’ of European troop contributors to peacekeeping in Africa but also a significant contribution from China. Most importantly, MINUSMA ultimately became the theatre of new geopolitical rivalries, with a host government led by a military junta and supported by Russia (and the Wagner Group mercenaries) defying the Security Council, in the context of return of East-West rivalries exacerbated by the 2022 Ukraine invasion.

Arthur Boutellis is a Non-resident Senior Adviser at the International Peace Institute, where he was Director of the Brian Urquhart Center for Peace Operations from 2015 to 2017, and a Senior Advisor with TrustWorks Global. He teaches at graduate-level at Columbia University and Sciences Po Paris.