In recent years, some scholars have turned their attention towards the problem of multiple simultaneous peace operations (MSPOs), but with little focus on state motivations for their initiation. This thesis examines the case of the conflict in Mali and the high amount of operations deployed there by different actors. It does so through an instrumental case study of the establishment of these operations and of the French role in this process. The thesis finds that France was at first eager to deal with the conflict by supporting regional actors, but with the crisis deteriorating, becoming ever more involved. Next to its own intervention, it led various international organizations to operate alongside it in order to share the conflict management burden while remaining critically influential and securing its goals. This approach allowed France to balance the interests of its domestic audience, western allies, as well as those of the governments in the region. Based on the analysis, the thesis suggests that the proclaimed logic of division of labor between different organizations deploying MSPOs might be a justification for primarily generating as much resources as available while reducing various kinds of costs, although without any explicit evidence for it being a conscious effort of using the...

Within international security governance and crisis management practice, there has been an increase in inter-institutional cooperation and multi-actor security initiatives. While many studies have attempted to shed light on the factors that determine the emergence of these inter-institutional security governance initiatives, many have approached the subject from a liberal-institutionalist perspective, giving only scant attention to the role of hegemons and great powers in these processes. To contribute to closing this gap, this study focuses on the role of hegemonic influence in the emergence and assemblage of inter-institutional (sub)regional security governance arrangements. It specifically focuses on Mali and the Sahel region following the 2012 Malian crisis, tracing the process through which inter-institutional cooperation between the G5S-JF and EUTM Mali became established by laying focus on the role of France as an extra-regional hegemon with a security agenda in the region. The study explores the role of French influence by outlining France’s preferences, actions, and narrations and explaining how they influenced the EU’s decision to operationally support the G5S-JF. The study also highlights the need to investigate how relations between resident powers and extra-regional hegemons shape the emergence, evolution, and decline of international organisations and regional security governance configurations.