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Accepted Paper:
Peace processes, illicit economies and negotiated governance in Mali
Eva Stambøl
(University of Oslo)
Paper short abstract:
The paper explores the role of illicit economies in the negotiation of (in)security governance and peace processes in Mali, and how external actors’ (e.g. EU, France, UN) counter-crime agendas played into them–taking into account today’s shifting power tectonics and their role in future-making.
Paper long abstract:
This paper explores how various external/international actors’ (e.g. EU, France, UN) counter-crime efforts in Mali have influenced local (in)security dynamics and strategies of governance, and especially how they have supported or undermined local peace processes. Fighting transnational organized crime, a priority for Western-led interventions in Mali and the Sahel, is based on the assumptions that illicit economies fuel conflict, violence and instability, and that fighting organized crime will lead to more peace, security and stability. However, these assumptions have been questioned by empirical research on Mali and Niger. Studies have emphasized the life-saving and developmental effects of illicit cross-border smuggling economies for local communities, which may be disrupted through external actors’ counter-crime and border security efforts. Moreover, illicit economies have played a role in a variety of local actors’ strategies of rule and have been a bargaining chip in negotiations of security governance: sometimes fueling conflict among armed groups, other times producing stabilizing and pacifying effects. Based on fieldwork in Mali in 2017 and 2023, this paper explores how the international counter-crime agenda influenced the negotiation and implementation of the 2015 peace agreement between the Malian government and Tuareg rebels, as well as other, often bottom-up and spontaneous, peace initiatives. Mali is currently at a cross-roads with the shifting of external partners which have consequences for both (in)security dynamics and peace processes, and the paper discusses these shifts and their possible implications for future-making based on interviews with a variety of actors in Mali.