Peacekeeping with No Peace to Keep: The Challenges of the Un Mission in Mali

The past two decades have seen a change in conflict patterns around the globe, with new conflict trends increasingly challenging established response systems. In light of these changes the relevance of UN peace operations has been called into question, with the task of ensuring that responses are fit for purpose posing a significant leadership challenge. In Peacekeeping with No Peace to Keep, Abdoulaye Bathily - who served as Deputy Special Representative for the Secretary General (SRSG) for the UN mission in Mali - provides unique insights into the relevance of effective leadership for building peace.

Bathily, with no previous UN experience, accepted the position of SRSG for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), asked to keep the peace in a situation where, as he argues in this book ’there was no peace to keep’.

Drawing on these experiences - as well as those gained from his later role as Special Representative to the Secretary General for the mission in Central Africa - Bathily analyses the problems he faced and sets out the lessons he learned in terms of what effective leadership looks like in peacekeeping situations. In particular, Bathily shares insights on how to build and sustain relations with host governments, as well as how to engage the plethora of actors typically present in peacekeeping situations across Africa.

Abdoulaye Bathily is a Senegalese historian, diplomat and politician. He has served in several conflict resolution processes in Africa to include Mali, Liberia, Guinea Bissau, Niger and Madagascar. He served as Deputy Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) for the UN mission in Mali from 2013 to 2014, and served as SRSG for Central Africa from 2014 to 2016. He is the author of numerous publications and currently serves as Visiting Professor at Kings College London.

Awah Leonide Azah is an alumnus of the African Leadership Centre Kings College London, where she completed a Master’s in Security, Leadership and Society. She currently works at CODESRIA as Program Manager in charge of Training Grants and fellowships.