In this thesis, I investigate to what extent and how the normative changes in UN peace operations have left an imprint on Swedish foreign policy tradition. Departing from a constructivist point of view, this thesis explores to what extent the changing international norms on UN peace operations translate to the national level. By way of this, the thesis aims to contribute to the theoretical discussion on how international norms and ideas imprint on a national level. The analysis focuses on the heightened threat level, the increased authorisation of the use of force, the inclusion of new military domains and humanitarian and civilian aspects. The Swedish approach is analysed through parliamentary debates and government propositions on MINUSMA between 2021-2022, where MINUSMA represents the normative changes UN peace operations have undergone. The material is analysed through qualitative content analysis. The results of the analysis indicate that Sweden aligns regarding the acceptance of increased military influence over MINUSMA and also accepts the heightened threat level. At the same time, the mission’s own use of force is played down by the government and parliamentarians, instead choosing to emphasise civilian and humanitarian factors. As a result, the alignment regarding the aspect of the use of force is more difficult to draw firm conclusions around.

Why do local populations regard peacekeepers from certain countries as friendly, and from others not? This study delves into the cultural proximity and cultural awareness of peacekeepers, suggesting it as one factor that influences public perceptions on the peacekeepers and the mission as a whole. I argue that a closer cultural proximity of peacekeepers to the mission country correlates positively with a more favorable public perception on the mission. The working mechanism behind the relationship is based on the theory of winning hearts and minds. Aiming for empirical validation, this hypothesis undergoes examination by using a structured focused comparison between the Malian cities of Gao and Timbuktu. In addition, I complement the study with the method of process tracing, using own data collected through expert interviews with 10 individuals who gained field experience in MINUSMA. The results of the structured focused comparison yield unexpected results: The evidence does not align with the hypothesis due to a lack of variation in the peacekeepers‘ cultural proximity between the cases. However, the tracing of the causal mechanism proves invaluable. It finds support for certain parts of the theorized mechanism while inviting for further exploration on additional intervening factors that reshape or complement the causal chain.

As a result of an islamist uprising in Mali in 2011, the international community currently has a heavy military presence in the country. The largest actor is the UN, which deploys more than 10 000 troops within its mission MINUSMA. Despite an eight year-long UN effort, however, the security situation in the region has continuously deteriorated, leading to questions about the mission’s effectiveness. This also leads to questions about the political ambitions of the troop-contributing countries, and whether the operational conditions for MINUSMA-forces in Mali are sufficient enough for mission success. With that in mind, this study is guided by the question of what the actual operational conditions are for the Swedish MINUSMA-force to achieve mission success in relation to the expressed political ambition. The political ambition is examined by analysing which purposes and objectives for the Swedish participation are expressed in official documents. The operational conditions for the Swedish units are examined by analysing how intra-mission coherence in MINUSMA plays out in practice. This in turn is examined by analysing the degree of fit between Swedish units and the rest of MINUSMA. The analysis shows an overall degree of misfit in the strategic/organisational, cultural/human, as well as operational dimensions. This had major consequences for the intra-mission coherence and the Swedish ability to achieve full operational effect. The conditions for the Swedish forces to achieve mission success in relation to the main expressed political ambition (stability and security in Mali), were therefore highly limited. Given the poor operational conditions for mission success, the result leads to questions about political drivers behind UN mission participation, and whether mission success in the area of operations is a political priority at all.

United nations peacekeeping is a contentious issue. What is mostly agreed on though, is thatthe brave men and women around the world risking their lives in peacekeeping missions around the world deserve the best security and protection the international community can offer. However, little research has been focused on the reasons behind violence against peacekeepers. This thesis theorizes that the presence of a third-party military operation that threatens theoperational capabilities of rebel groups has the potential to cause an increase in rebel violenceagainst a United Nations Peacekeeping operation in the same conflict. Through examiningconflict dynamics in the cases of Mali and the Central African Republic utilizing of astructured, focused comparison, the hypothesized relationship and causal explanations wereput to the test. The expectation was that in Mali, the high levels of violence would be explainedby the effectiveness of the French counterinsurgency operation in the country. In the CentralAfrican Republic, the contrary was expected. However, the hypothesis could not be confirmed. Due to some rather large caveats and limitations, the research gap could not be satisfied. Nonetheless, the study creates plenty for avenues of future research, and opportunities to learnfrom the challenges encountered.

Since the first peacekeeping operation in 1948, the global security environment has changed and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali - MINUSMA - established in 2013, has come to represent the emerging practice of deploying peacekeeping operations to asymmetric conflicts. Where there are on-going counter-terrorist operations, and no peace to keep. In 2014, the Swedish parliament passed a decision, that Sweden was to contribute with troops to MINUSMA, and nowadays, there is a political ambition for a long-term participation. Thus, the objective of this research is to examine the experiences of Swedish peacekeeping soldiers’ who have served in Mali by conducting a qualitative interview study. To better understand how they perceive and experience their service period and how the factors outlined in the ‘model of UN soldiers’ experience of their daily service’ influence it. The results from the interviews indicate that even though all soldiers’ has their own perception and experience of their service period, there are also many similarities, thus, a number of patterns were possible to discover. Further, all comments could somehow be linked to the service environment, which indicate that how the soldiers’ experience their service environment is dependent on the other factors outlined in the model. Due to Swedens long and well-established experience with peacekeeping operations, future studies could look at other peacekeeping missions.

In this thesis, I explore everyday militarisation in UN peace operations by studying how Sweden's s 'peace nation' narrative is possibly militarised by participating in the robust peacekeeping operation in Mali. The aim is to increase understanding around how militarisation occurs in modern peace operations, domains that are meant to be peaceful but are becoming increasingly war-like. The Swedish narrative is generated through interviews with Swedish peacekeepers that have previously been deployed to Mali and through readings of the Swedish Armed Forces blog Malibloggen. The material is analysed through a narrative analysis inspired by Mieke Bal (2009). I find that the Swedish narrative is partly militarised during participation in the mission, as it can be argued that Sweden arranged its sense of belonging around military values and chose military modes of conflict resolution over civilian to some extent. The soldiers were also cognitively preparing for war and military measures were partially normalised. This result illustrates that when countries that regard themselves as 'peace nations' take part in militarised UN PSOs, their narrative can become militarised to some extent as they arrange their sense of belonging around values of war and military force. This, in turn, has implications for the spread of militarisation across the globe, potentially leading to a lower threshold of war.

Dans un contexte où le terrorisme est de plus en plus présent au sein des conflits civils, les opérations de paix des Nations Unies sont régulièrement déployées au côté de forces de contreterrorisme. Ces derniers manquent généralement d’efficacité dans leur mission en attisant le terrorisme plutôt que de le réduire. Dans ces conditions, en général, les opérations de paix coopèrent avec ces forces de lutte contre le terrorisme ce qui influence leur efficacité dans la mise en œuvre de leur mandat. Au Mali, depuis 2013, la MINUSMA est déployée en parallèle des forces françaises (l’opération Serval puis Barkhane) et d’une force de contreterrorisme créé par les pays du Sahel. Elle coopère avec elles dans la limite de leurs mandats respectifs. La mission doit ainsi faire face à de nouveaux défis dus à un environnement sécuritaire plus complexe, un manque de ressource pour faire face au terrorisme et une coopération avec le local compliqué à mettre en œuvre. Dans ce sens, l’efficacité de la MINUSMA est largement amoindrie par sa coopération avec les interventions militaires de lutte contre le terrorisme. / In a context where terrorism is increasingly present in civil conflicts, United Nations peace operations are regularly deployed alongside counterterrorism forces. The latter are generally ineffective in their mission by fueling terrorism rather than reducing it. Under these conditions, in general, peace operations cooperate with these counterterrorism forces, which influences their effectiveness in the implementation of their mandate. In Mali, since 2013, MINUSMA has been deployed alongside French forces (Operation Serval then Barkhane) and a counterterrorism force created by Sahel countries and cooperating with them within the limits of their respective mandates. The mission must therefore face new challenges due to a more complex security environment, a lack of resources to deal with terrorism and cooperation with the locals which is difficult to implement. In this sense, the effectiveness of MINUSMA is greatly diminished by its cooperation with military interventions that combat terrorism.

Sverige har en lång tradition av att delta i internationella militära insatser. Under insatserna lyder det svenska förbandet under både den internationella organisationen och under Försvarsmakten. Denna ledningsdualitet skapar friktioner.  Det svenska deltagandet i den FN-ledda insatsen i Mali har studerats under perioden 2014-2021 med ett särskilt fokus på vilka effekter den svenska nationella styrningen får på förbandsnivån. Empirin utgörs av offentliga styrdokument samt intervjuer med de som varit kontingentschefer för de svenska förbanden under perioden.  Resultatet diskuteras utifrån tidigare forskning som avhandlar den svenska insatsen i Afghanistan. Bland slutsatserna pekas på att nationell styrning av den svenska insatsen i Mali har inneburit begränsningar för förbandet som möjligen inte ligger i linje med den svenska politiska viljan. Därtill pekas på att kontingentscheferna har stort handlingsutrymme att tolka och utforma svensk strategi i insatsområdet och att handlingsutrymmet är beroende av kontingentschefernas lojalitetsband. Den nationella styrningen av internationella insatser bör reformeras för att uppnå koherens mellan de övergripande politiska målsättningarna och förbandsnivån.

This thesis focus on the UN-led peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and how the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has undertaken this in its resolutions. The importance to study this subject and statebuilding efforts, such as MINUSMA, is due to that a failed statebuilding may result in potential international consequences. This is the case in Mali where terror- and criminal organizations now roam free in large parts of the country where these organizations may plan their operations, including international terror attacks. Therefore, this study will research how the UNSC has positioned itself regarding the potential explanations to the outcomes of statebuilding, the statebuilder´s dilemma, and dividing structures. To conduct the analysis of the resolutions, a qualitative document analysis has been conducted. For understanding the context in Mali and the aftermath of the resolutions, secondary data analysis has been used. The conclusions for this thesis are that the UNSC has taken a middle way in the context of the statebuilder´s dilemma and dividing structures, but that the UNSC also shows a great loyalty towards the Malian state and not vice versa as the dilemma debates. The objective is to shine a light on the UN peacekeeping missions in an attempt to influence how they are carried out since improvement is needed.

Abstract The international UN-led peacebuilding mission MINUSMA has been deployed in Mali since 2013 and was initially rather successful. The mission managed to support the government with stabilization and a peace agreement that ended the conflict between the north and the south. However, since 2017 the situation has deteriorated in the presence of MINUSMA. Violence has escalated and several new communal conflicts have emerged primarily in the central regions where Islamist groups have gained ground, and there have been two more coup d’états and the government have been carrying out human rights violations against civilians. By 2023 the people of Mali and the current military government has demanded the mission to withdraw and leave the country. This study set out to understand why civilians oppose international peacebuilding and made a comparative case study of three regions in Mali, Koulikoro in the south, Mopti in the central and Gao in northeastern Mali looking at how opposition against MINUSMA has changed between 2017-2020. The study found that reasons for opposition are multilayered and stem from both historical and contemporary events and experiences. Moreover, the study found that despite substantial research on the importance of including civil society in peacebuilding processes, most civilians, groups and communities have been left out of the peace process and instead the approach has been mainly top-down with MINUSMA supporting the Malian government. The problematic aspect of this is that the government did not support its own people. The study suggest that international peacebuilding must be more context-sensitive and understand the history and root causes of the conflicts to successfully support a country with peacebuilding in order to avoid a situation where the civilian population oppose the mission instead of being included, engaged and committed to the peace process.