The Role of Special Forces in Peace Missions: A Focus on MINUSMA within the African Context

Abstract

The terror attacks on 11 September 2001 in the United States of America, and the subsequent declaration by George W Bush of a War on  Terrorism, has renewed the focus on the use of special forces as the force of choice to combat the new security threat. It also focussed  the international concern on the security threats occupying ungoverned spaces, failed states, and the threat inherent in the spreading of  terror. This, in turn, created a merging of failed states and counter-terrorism agendas, which resulted in a powerful new framework for  humanitarian actors. Non-governmental organisation interventions in the form of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated  Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), to mention but one example, appeared. The subsequent deployment of European special forces  to Mali in 2013 as part of MINUSMA was in an effort to restore constitutional order to the Malian government. The mission is still in  progress, and thus relevant as example of the employment of special forces within the context of peace missions in Africa. This article  offers a brief glimpse at the nature of post-Cold War security, the character of conflict in Africa, and the resulting employment of special   forces in peace missions.