EFFECTS OF COMPETING FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS ON DEMOCRATIZATION OF CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS IN MALI SINCE ITS RETURN TO DEMOCRACY IN 2013

Abstract

Six years ago, a military takeover of Mali’s government caused the country’s democracy to crumble, creating further regional instability. Once the coup was resolved, Malians and many donors from the international community worked to reinstate civilian control over the military and to improve military effectiveness. This thesis investigated the impact of that aid on civil-military relations, control, and effectiveness. It found that foreign aid has had a low to medium impact so far on civilian control and military effectiveness. Foreign assistance has had only a modest effect on the development of institutional control mechanisms, oversight, and professional norms. On the same note, foreign assistance has had a low impact on Mali’s capability to devise a security plan or strategy, as well as to develop inter-agency institutions, even if providing resources to train and equip the Malian forces. As violence and terrorism are encroaching, in spite of foreign security assistance, there is little impact on military effectiveness. In this context, this thesis recommends that the foreign donors continue their efforts to provide security assistance to the Malian government, and the Malian elites use the foreign assistance more effectively to build better civil-military institutions.