The Rocky Road to Postcolonial Stability: A Case Study of MINUSMA's Role in the Peace Process of Mali's Postcolonial Conflict

Abstract

Mali is a meeting point of a variety of ethnic groups in the Sahara and Sahel region. It is a cultural border region and therefore prone to conflict. The recent conflict of 2012 was not an isolated case. It is the next iteration in a series of rebellions traceable to the colonial era. Neither is the conflict understandable through a purely Malian lens, the regional and global contexts play a key role in explaining the complexity of Mali’s current state. In 2013 the initial interventions by France (Operation Serval) and the UN (AFISMA) were replaced by UN’s multidisciplinary and comprehensive MINUSMA mission. The presence of France and other Western actors raises controversial questions on postcolonialism and international intervention. This thesis analyses the effectiveness and difficulties of international intervention in postcolonial conflict through a combination of theoretical perspectives. The difficulty lies at the meeting point of global forces and personal microgeographies. The mediation processes at a national level have showed the relative success of international involvement, but the effects of the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali are yet to be fully felt on the local scale.