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Resilience to What? EU Capacity-Building Missions in the Sahel

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Abstract

This chapter proposes an in-depth analysis of the three CSDP missions currently deployed in Mali and Niger, in order to shed light on the European initiatives for fostering resilience in the Sahel. Focusing on the security sector, the analysis considers the shared context of the origin of the missions, and it examines their evolution and their mixed performances. It suggests that the EU mainly conjugates resilience in terms of sector-specific, quick-impact measures of capacity-building targeting local states and security forces. Consequently, the EU tends to overestimate the size of external shocks while it underrates local fragilities, thereby undermining the potential impact of its efforts for stabilisation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The G5 Sahel Joint Force is a joint military and security project implemented by the five countries of the G5 Sahel (Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad). It would create a regional force able to fight against the transnational threats of terrorism, organised crime, and irregular migrations currently affecting the Sahel.

  2. 2.

    On the whole, however, Malian state budget is largely dependent on foreign donors (see Bergamaschi 2014).

  3. 3.

    As we have shown in the previous paragraph, the same move also affected the evolution of the mandate of EUTM.

  4. 4.

    Interview with EU Officer held in Bamako in November 2017 in the framework of EUNPACK project.

  5. 5.

    Interview with EU Officer held in Bamako in November 2017 in the framework of EUNPACK project.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy

    Luca Raineri

  2. University of Naples “L’Orientale”, Naples, Italy

    Edoardo Baldaro

Authors
  1. Luca Raineri
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  2. Edoardo Baldaro
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Correspondence to Luca Raineri .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Leiden, The Netherlands

    Eugenio Cusumano

  2. The Hague, The Netherlands

    Stefan Hofmaier

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Raineri, L., Baldaro, E. (2020). Resilience to What? EU Capacity-Building Missions in the Sahel. In: Cusumano, E., Hofmaier, S. (eds) Projecting Resilience Across the Mediterranean. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23641-0_9

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