An Anglophone Invention? The Difficult Emergence of a French Security Sector Reform Practice

Abstract

The concept of security sector reform (SSR) was first formulated by UK development actors. Since 2008, France has officially adopted an SSR strategy and promoted the concept at the European level during the country's 2008 EU Presidency. However, what appears on paper to resemble full support from French institutions is in fact more complex. If the anglophone roots of the policy initiative do not seemingly explain its lack of institutionalization in the French context, it would appear that the difficulty faced by the French administration in finding a whole-of-government agreement on what the content of SSR should be, does.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my gratitude to my interviewees who made this article possible by agreeing to share their insights. I am also greatly indebted to Professors Vennesson, Chafer, Charbonneau and Pugh for their guidance and comments on the draft version. All remaining errors are mine.

Notes

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Fashoda in South Sudan is where French and British troops encountered one another in 1898.

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Ministère des Affaires Etrangères et Européennes (see n.7 above), p.37.

Paris (see n.1 above), p.66.

Interviews were negotiated on a basis of confidentiality to allow for the free expression of opinions regarding institutional differences and to protect the identity of participants according to Chatham House rules. Some interviews provided background material. References to identifiable third parties have been removed. French references and interviews were translated by the author.

The ‘Moderns’ (reformists) are opposed to the ‘Ancients’ (conservatives) of French–African relations. See, Yves Gounin, La France en Afrique. Le combat des Anciens et des Modernes [France In Africa: The Dispute between the Ancients and the Moderns], Bruxelles: De Boeck, 2009.

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Ibid.

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Ibid., p.92.

Meimon (see n.22 above), p.33.

Ibid., p.42.

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Gounin (see n.19 above), pp.94–95.

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OECD (see n.8 above), p.70

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Gounin (see n.19 above), p.119.

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Richard Banégas, ‘The Return of the French Policeman’, in Royal African Society, Yo-yo Foreign Policy in Libya and Côte d'Ivoire, London: Royal African Society, 2011 (at: www.royalafricansociety.org/component/content/article/876.html).

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Ibid., p.4.

Christophe Châtelot, ‘La France gardera une présence militaire permanente en Côte d'Ivoire’ [France Keeps a Permanent Military Presence in Côte d'Ivoire], Le Monde, 21 May 2011.

Patrice Sartre, ‘De la coopération militaire à la réforme du secteur de la sécurité en Afrique’ [From Military Cooperation to Security Sector Reform in Africa], Revue des Anciens de l'ENA, No.350, April 2005 (at: www.aaeena.fr/publications/la-revue/lena-hors-les-murs-revue-de-lassociation-des-anciens-eleves-de-lena/ndeg-350-lafrique-avril-2005).

Ibid.

Henry Zipper de Fabiani, ‘Diplomatie de défense et diplomatie préventive. Vers une nouvelle symbiose entre diplomatie et défense’ [Defence Diplomacy and Preventive Diplomacy. Towards a New Symbiosis of Diplomacy and Defence], Annuaire Français des Relations Internationales, Vol.3, 2002, pp.614–29.

Présidence de la République, ‘The French White Paper on Defence and National Security’, New York: Odile Jacob, 2008; Bernard Cazeneuve, ‘Rapport d'Information sur la Coopération Militaire’ [Report on Military Cooperation], Commission de la Défense Nationale et des Forces Armées, Paris, 2001.

United Nations Programme of Action- Implementation Support System, ‘Rapport de la France sur l'Application du Programme d'action en vue de prévenir, combattre et éliminer le commerce illicite des armes légères sous tous ces aspects’ [Report by France on Implementation of the Action Programme for Prevention, Countering and Eliminating the Illegal Trade in Light Weapons in all its Aspects], May 2010, p.18 (at: www.poa-iss.org/CASACountryProfile/PoANationalReports/2010@[email protected]).

Interview by author with French official, 11 Mar. 2011.

Ibid.

‘Gouvernance du secteur de la sécurité en Afrique de l'Ouest francophone: bilan et perspectives’ [Governance of the Security Sector in Francophone Africa: Conclusions and Perspectives], Conference organized by the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) and the French Foreign Affairs Ministry, Paris, Dec. 2011.

Interview by author with French official, Paris, 31 Sept. 2010.

Cécile Wendling, ‘The Comprehensive Approach to Civil-Military Crisis Management’, Institut de Recherche Stratégique de l'Ecole Militaire, Paris, 2010, p.64.

Présidence de la République (see n.60 above), p.58.

Interview by author with French official, Paris, 3 Mar. 2011.

Hélène Lavoix, ‘Construire un système d'alerte précoce des crises’ [Constructing an Early Warning System], IFRI and SGDN, Paris, 2006.

Interview by author with French official, Paris, 13 May 2011.

Interview by author with French official, Paris, 2 Sept. 2010.

Ibid.

Ministère des Affaires Etrangères et Européennes (see n.7 above).

United Nations PoA-ISS (see n.61 above), p.17.

Interview by author with French official, Paris, 22 Sept. 2010.

Aline Leboeuf and Alain Antil, ‘Etats fragiles et terrorisme, un lien ambigu’ [Fragile State and Terrorism, an Ambiguous Relationship], in Jean-Marc Châtaigner and Hervé Magro (eds), Etats et sociétés fragiles : Entre conflits, reconstruction et développement [Fragile States and Societies: Between Conflicts, Reconstruction and Development], Paris: Khartala, 2007, pp.191–212.

Philippe Bernard, ‘WikiLeaks: le Mali, talon d'Achille de la lutte contre AQMI’ [Wikileaks: Mali, Achilles' Heel in the Struggle against the AQIM ], Le Monde, 6 Dec. 2010.

Annette Lohmann, ‘Qui sont les maîtres du Sahara? Vieux conflits, nouvelles menaces: le Mali et le Sahara entre les Touaregs, Al-Qaida et le Crime Organisé’ [Who are the Sahara's Masters? Ancient Conflicts, New Threats: Mali and the Sahara between Tuaregs, Al-Qaida and Organized Crime], Abuja: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2011, pp.10–2.

Jean-Michel Bezat, ‘La France peut-elle se passer de l'uranium nigérien?’ [Can France live without Uranium from Niger?], Le Monde, 7 Oct. 2010.

Lohmann (see n.78 above).

Direction Générale de la Mondialisation, du Développement et des Partenariats, ‘Actualité de l'approche “sécurité et développement”. Le cas du Sahara – Sahel’ [Topicality of the ‘Security and Development’ Approach. The Case of Sahara–Sahel], draft note, Paris: DGM/ECODEV/MGD, 2011.

United Nations PoA-ISS (see n.61 above), p.23.

Interview by author with French official, Paris, 20 Sept. 2010.

Interview by author with French official, Brussels, 10 Mar. 2011.

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Interview by author with French official, Paris, 23 Feb. 2011.

Wendling (see n.66 above), p.84.

Interview by author with French official, Paris, 25 Feb. 2011.

Interview by author with French official, Paris, 22 Sept. 2010.

Interview by author with French official, Paris, 31 Sept. 2010.

See for example Jeffrey Herbst, ‘African Militaries and Rebellion: The Political Economy of Threat and Combat Effectiveness’, Journal of Peace Research, Vol.41, No.3, 2004, pp.357–69. For another view, see Monica Duffy Toft, ‘Ending Civil Wars: A Case for Rebel Victory?’, International Security, Vol.34, No.4, 2010, pp.7–36.

François Gaulme, ‘Le sursaut africain du New Labour: principes, promesses et résultats’ [The African Initiative of New Labour: Principles, Promises and Results], Afrique contemporaine, Vol.207, No.3, 2003, pp.71–97.

Jean-Marc Châtaigner, ‘La réforme du secteur de la sécurité dans les Etats fragiles. Préalable indispensable du développement ou dernière des illusions néo-coloniales?’ [Security Sector Reform in Fragile States. Indispensible Prelude to Development or the Last Neo-Colonial Illusion?], Afrique Contemporaine, Vol.218, No.2, 2006, pp.101–7.

‘Tunisie: les propos “effrayants” d'Alliot-Marie suscitent la polémique’ [Tunisia: The Frightening Proposal of Alliot-Marie Stirs Polemic], Le Monde, 13 Jan. 2011.

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Kenneth Menkhaus, ‘State Fragility as a Wicked Problem’, Prism, Vol.1, No.2, 2010, p.96.