Peace Operations in the Francophone World

Global governance meets post-colonialism

Bruno Charbonneau, Tony Chafer, Bruno Charbonneau, Tony Chafer

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781317750123
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politica e relazioni internazionali
• Subtopic: Pace e sviluppo globale

This book critically examines peacebuilding, humanitarian intervention and peace operation practices and experiences in francophone spaces.

Francophone Africa as a specific space is relatively little studied in the peace and security literature, despite the fact that almost half of all peacekeepers are deployed or were deployed in this part of Africa during the last decade. It is an arena for intervention that deserves more serious attention, if only because it provides fertile ground for exploring the key questions raised in the peacekeeping and peacebuilding literature. For instance, in 2002 a French operation (Licorne) was launched and in 2003 a UN force was deployed in Côte d'Ivoire alongside the French force there.

Filling a gap in the current literature, Peace Operations in the Francophone World critically examines peacekeeping and peacebuilding practices in the francophone world, including but not limited to conflict prevention and resolution, security sector reform (SSR), francophone politics, and North–South relations. The book explores whether peace and security operations in francophone spaces have exceptional characteristics when compared with those carried out in other parts of the world and assesses whether an analysis of these operations in the francophone world can make a specific and original contribution to wider international debates about peacekeeping and peacebuilding.

This book will be of much interest to students of peacekeeping, peacebuilding, peace and conflict studies, African politics, security studies, and IR in general.

Part 1

Conceptual and policy issues

1 Francophone peacekeeping

Charting the emergence of a new problématique in peace operations

Marie-Joëlle Zahar, Lori-Anne Théroux-Bénoni, and David Morin

In January 2011, UN General Assembly Resolution A/65/L.26/Rev.1 welcomed the ‘new impetus’ that cooperation between the UN and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF – also known as La Francophonie) had given to the participation of OIF states in peacekeeping operations, highlighting further the organisation’s participation in the Peacebuilding Commission’s work on Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, and the Central African Republic (CAR). This and similar episodes attest to the intersection between the trajectory of La Francophonie and peace operations. What has prompted this recurring intersection, and what are its consequences? Drawing upon the authors’ experience and work with the Francophone Research Network on Peace Operations, Montreal, in developing and implementing peacekeeping capacity-building projects for French-speaking countries in bilateral and multilateral contexts, this chapter critically explores the intersection of peace operations and the francophone spaces. It suggests that the increasing importance of the so-called francophone fact in peacekeeping is the result of three reinforcing dynamics: (1) the reality of UN deployments in the past decade with more than half of the blue helmets deployed in francophone settings; (2) the consequent creation of specific needs for the ‘good functioning’ of multidimensional peace operations; and (3) an incomplete but undeniable appropriation of peace operations by francophone states and organisations.

The chapter first proposes a conceptual definition of the so-called francophone fact in the context of peacekeeping, underlining the tensions and contradictions inherent in the various uses of the adjective francophone, particularly its linguistic-operational and political usages. It then documents the multiplication of peacekeeping operations in the francophone world over the past decade and identifies ‘new’ ensuing needs. Finally, building on an argument by Justin Massie and David Morin, the chapter documents an increasing geocultural appropriation¹ of peace operations by francophone states and by La Francophonie, underlining the manner in which this has resulted in specific initiatives and actions that have transformed francophone states and La Francophonie into fully fledged actors in this domain.

The francophonization of peacekeeping

In the past decade, we have witnessed the francophonization of peacekeeping, understood as the growing importance of the francophone fact as a politically and logistically inescapable factor in the universe of peace operations. The intersection of francophone spaces and peacekeeping, from which we derive the concept of the francophonization of peacekeeping, is linked to three distinct but interrelated dimensions in the evolution of peacekeeping. The first is an empirical reality, documented in more detail in the next section: over the past decade, the number of military peacekeepers deployed in francophone states has increased eightfold and reached a peak of 55,000 blue helmets in 2010. The second is linked to the demand for new, specific linguistic and sociocultural abilities, a need that is further heightened by the multidimensionality of contemporary peace operations. The third is the growing interest and participation of francophone states and of La Francophonie in such operations.

The francophonization of peacekeeping can be apprehended from two perspectives: a minimalist operational perspective and a maximalist political one. Operationally, francophonization refers to the necessity of deploying blue helmets who can speak the language used by local populations in theatre. From this perspective, which focuses on linguistic abilities, francophone states would be defined as those states whose citizens can use French as a working language, that is, states where French is frequently used or that have French as the (or an) official language. One immediate difficulty with such a definition is the ability to quantify the proportion of effectively French-speaking troops deployed by those states that are bi- or multilingual (Canada or Rwanda, for example) or states where French is a language of culture (Egypt or Vietnam, for example). Further, such a definition would not account for the fact that non-francophone countries can elect to select personnel to be deployed in a French-speaking area of operations on the basis of linguistic abilities. Politically, francophonization refers to the growing involvement of French-speaking states and of the Francophonie in peacekeeping. Much like the operational definition, this political perspective has problems of its own. Indeed, as already suggested, membership in the Francophonie includes multilingual states as well as those where French is a language of culture. It does not necessarily reflect the linguistic-operational capacity of member states and their citizens once deployed in peacekeeping missions. Another potential problem with this perspective could be the tendency to equate the growing number of French-speaking states and organisations involved in peacekeeping with increasing clout in discussions about peacekeeping. As will be argued, even though the two are interrelated, they do not necessarily move in tandem.

As Table 1.1 demonstrates, the decision to adopt a minimalist operational or a maximalist political definition can make a significant difference when assessing the participation of francophones in UN peace operations. However, whether one favours a linguistic-operational or a political definition to make sense of the word francophone in the context of peacekeeping, one must recognise that, from an analytical perspective, a significant margin of error is linked to this adjective. This margin is further amplified by the fragmented and scattered nature of available data of francophone participation in peacekeeping, at the UN and national levels.² Nonetheless, as established in the next section, the francophonization of peacekeeping is a reality at least in the sense of the multiplication of peace operations in French-speaking areas of operations.

Table 1.1 Maximalist and minimalist definitions

	Maximalist political definition	Minimalist operational definition
Number of francophone states	53	34
Personnel deployed in UN missions on June 30, 2012	22,186	14,678
Percentage of personnel deployed in UN missions on June 30, 2012	22.67%	15%

Peace operations in francophone worlds: quantitative changes

Since 1948, 159 peace operations were deployed by about 15 international, regional, and subregional organisations around the world. Of these, 53 or about one-third, were deployed in francophone countries, whereas these countries make up only about 17.6% of UN member states.³ In 2012–2013, this number was on the increase with the newly approved ECOWAS and UN missions in Mali, as well as the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region’s neutral force in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

In this regard, the past decade has witnessed an unprecedented development in the francophone world.⁴ Between 2000 and 2010, the number of blue helmets deployed in Francophonie member states grew eightfold, from 6,203 in 2001 to 55,195 in 2010. In January 2010, 55% of the 118,535 troops in 18 UN peace operations were deployed in francophone countries.⁵ There were eight missions in nine OIF states: the UN Integrated Office in Burundi (BINUB),⁶ the UN Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT), the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI), the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), and the UN Organisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC). Since 2010, BINUB was transformed into the UN Office in Burundi, MINURCAT closed, and MONUC was downsized and renamed MONUSCO (the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo). From fewer than 10,000 per year between 1990 and 2000 (with the exception of the years 1994–1995, which saw simultaneous deployments in Rwanda, Lebanon, and Haiti), UN peacekeepers deployed in francophone countries have systematically numbered over 50,000 per year since 2008. In the last decade, almost 440,000 military, police, and UN observers deployed in francophone countries amount to 53.2% of all UN personnel in peace operations. On 30 June 2012, these included 10,163 personnel in Haiti, 10,968 in the Ivory Coast, 11,571 in Lebanon, and 19,144 in the DRC.

The exponential increase in UN troops deployed in francophone settings can be traced back to three roughly concurrent deployments: UNOCI in February 2004, MINUSTAH in April 2004, and the UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB, the predecessor of BINUB) in May 2004. As Figure 1.1 shows, between January and July 2004, UN personnel deployed in French-speaking areas doubled from little fewer than 20,000 to 40,000. Another important factor accounting for this increase in personnel was the doubling of blue helmets deployed in the Congo from 10,866 in January 2004 to more than 20,000 in 2010. As a result, between July 2004 and January 2005, the percentage of UN troops deployed in OIF countries moved from 47.69% of the total UN troops worldwide to 61.32%. A slight bucking of the trend occurred in 2006 due to the gradual withdrawal of ONUB (which closed in December 2006) and a decrease of troops in MINUSTAH. A second steep rise in 2007 followed the decision to reinforce UNIFIL following the war between Israel and Hezbollah in summer 2006. By 2007, UN troops deployed in francophone countries reached a peak at 62.84% of total deployments. It is important to underline that some of the UN’s most ambitious missions, in terms of both size and mandate, were deployed in francophone countries. These include MONUC/MONUSCO (upwards of 22,000 personnel in 2009), UNIFIL (upwards of 13,000 personnel in 2007), MINUSTAH (approximately 12,500 in 2011), and ONUCI (some 11,000 personnel in 2012).

Figure 1.1 Shares of languages used in OIF member states (%)

Source: ‘Area and Population’ and ‘Language’, in Encyclopedia Britannica, Book of the Year 2011, Chicago: Britannica Encyclopædia, 2011, pp. 750–755, 766–770.

The next section charts the changes brought about by an increase of deployments in francophone worlds in a context of complex multidimensional peace operations.

Peace operations in francophone spaces: qualitative changes

This dramatic change in the geography of peacekeeping would have had little impact from an operational perspective had peacekeeping remained tantamount to observing front lines and monitoring ceasefires. Indeed, the fundamental transformation of the relationship between peacekeepers and host countries is the direct consequence of the emergence of multidimensional peace operations intended not only to keep the peace but also to assist in the reconstruction of the state and society. These changes have brought to the fore a dimension that held relatively little significance before: the importance of linguistic and sociocultural dimensions in contributing to the efficiency and success of peace operations.⁷

One could easily call into question the relevance of the debate surrounding the use of a specific language in peace missions, more specifically the use of French or the importance of a so-called francophone dimension (see Chapter 3 by Liégeois in this volume). A first objection can be raised on the grounds of the importance of interoperability for the success of peace operations. Interoperability is defined as ‘the ability of systems, units or forces to provide the services to and accept services from other systems, units or forces and to use the services so exchanged to enable them to operate effectively together’.⁸ This principle underlies the argument that multinationalism in UN missions makes it necessary to have a common working language – and that it should be English. Historically, the preponderance of blue helmets drawn from neutral Western states (Scandinavian countries, Ireland, Canada) and from former British colonies (Pakistan, India, Ghana, Nigeria) fostered the emergence of English as the lingua franca of peacekeeping. Further, and although French-speaking personnel are on the rise since the early 1990s, on 30 June 2012, only 15% of personnel deployed in UN peace operations came from francophone countries.⁹ That French-speaking personnel are stil...