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Analysis of the United Nations Peace Operation in Mali: counterterrorism and counterinsurgency in MINUSMA
This paper analyses the counterterrorist and counterinsurgent role of United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). This peace mission is a direct victim of terrorist and insurgent attacks, what leads us to wonder if it actively counters them, and to see if these tasks emanate from the mandate and its operationalisation, or if the aforementioned threats lead MINUSMA to counter them as a consequence. The paper draws on the theoretical tenets of counterterrorism and counterinsurgency per se and in relation to peace operations, to then, conducting a qualitative research methodology, use MINUSMA as a case study to expose the evolution of peace operations and the current and future possible expansion of their tasks, analysing Security Council resolutions, academic literature and other UN documents. The study finds that it has indeed conducted such tasks, directly and in cooperation with the French military operation. These tasks are implicitly arisen from the mandate, with an organizational and operational structure serving them, and enhanced by supervened factors of ground implementation. This shift eventually erases its impartiality, enhancing blue helmets’ risks, decreasing its effectiveness and disrupting UN peace operations doctrine. In conclusion, we find that the tacit mandate and its vagueness not only complicate the academic analysis, but the tasks on the ground and the future of the security of the international personnel and the population of Mali and the Sahel.