MINUSMA Act Two (2016–2019): The Relevance of Peacekeeping in a Terrorist Environment in Question

Act two opens with a new, clearer and more coherent mandate for MINUSMA focused on supporting the implementation of the 2015 peace agreement. From there on, the support of the UN mission for the extension of state authority in the northern region of the country is done within the framework of the implementation of the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali. However, Act two of the Mission’s life is also the one during which the unity of the Security Council in New York begins to be undermined and certain power rivalries emerge. While the implementation of the peace agreement lags and the security situation deteriorates in Mali and the Sahel more broadly, France is no longer able to keep the “international community” united behind a common strategy. The 2016 authorization by the Council for MINUSMA to adopt “a more proactive and robust approach”—to try to appease a frustrated host government—plants the seeds of new divisions including among the P3 between France and the United States over the very relevance of a UN peacekeeping operation in an environment plagued by the threat of terrorism. Confronted by US pressure for an exit strategy, France as the penholder will compromise by adding a second strategic priority to the mandate on protection of civilians in central Mali, but without additional resources, thus setting the mission to fail.