MINUSMA, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, came to an end in 2023. MINUSMA and the German contribution to it were extended again and again, even as the interim results and prospects of success deteriorated more and more. The new PRIF report “Ausstieg verpasst? Der Bundestag und die UN-Mission in Mali” (in German) examines the arguments used by the Bundestag to justify the German contribution to the mission. The analysis reveals dynamics that favor continuation regardless of the course of the mission. Exit strategies can also have a hard time countering these dynamics, and it turns out that it is far more difficult to end a mission than to start it.
Thorsten Gromes is a Senior Researcher and project manager in the research department “Intrastate Conflict”. He conducts research on humanitarian military interventions, peacebuilding, and the causes of civil wars.
Download (pdf): Gromes, Thorsten (2024): Ausstieg verpasst? Der Bundestag und die UN-Mission in Mali, PRIF Report 2/2024, Frankfurt/M.