IGP Carnegie Distinguished Fellow Ambassador Martin Kimani Addresses Global Security Challenges and Peacekeeping in Africa

"We're in a period where UN peacekeeping is unlikely to be met with cheers of appreciation; it's more likely to be met by boos."

So said Ambassador Martin Kimani, president and CEO of The Africa Center and former permanent representative of Kenya to the United Nations, at a March 5 roundtable hosted by Columbia’s Institute of Global Politics (IGP) titled “Thinking Beyond War: African Solutions to Pressing Security Challenges.” Ambassador Kimani, who is also an IGP Carnegie Distinguished Fellow, spoke with Jean-Marie Guéhenno, director of SIPA’s Kent Global Leadership Program on Conflict Resolution, IGP affiliated faculty member, and former president and CEO of the International Crisis Group in a conversation which explored the state of international peacekeeping in Africa and the evolving global security landscape.

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Ambassador Kimani and Guéhenno discussed the mounting challenges facing peacekeeping efforts in Africa, including funding issues, political obstacles, and shifting attitudes toward international intervention. Ambassador Kimani explained that perceptions of peacekeeping missions in countries such as Mali and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have changed significantly in the last decade, as UN interventions that were once welcomed with optimism are now met with increasing skepticism and resistance.

Ambassador Kimani also described Haiti as a case study of the complexities of international intervention. After decades of failed UN peacekeeping missions in the country, the UN Security Council in 2023 approved a new Kenyan-led international policing mission, the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), to help the Haitian National Police restore order and address rampant gang violence. Despite initial hopes, the mission struggled with limited resources, inadequate preparation, and a lack of support from the UN Secretariat, and the Haitian gangs maintained control. From the beginning, MSS was "unable to establish itself as a force to be reckoned with,” Ambassador Kimani explained.

The UN and MSS’s mistakes in Haiti, Guéhenno noted, also significantly damaged their credibility over time. “In peacekeeping, you have a window of opportunity in the early days to establish your credibility or destroy it, and it’s very difficult to regain credibility if you’ve lost it,” he said.

Guéhenno emphasized that successful peacekeeping requires more than military presence, but also strategic implementation, deep understanding of local contexts, strong initial engagement, and a commitment to building local capacities. This approach contrasts with traditional peacekeeping models that often impose external solutions without sufficient local input. Recognizing the limitations of traditional UN-led missions, Ambassador Kimani advocated for more innovative approaches to international peacekeeping and conflict resolution. He argued that while current peacekeeping models are increasingly ineffective, there is an opportunity to develop more adaptive and locally-informed strategies.

The discussants cited the UN Security Council’s Resolution 2719 – which creates a framework for the UN to provide funding for African Union (AU)-led peace operations – as a potential point of hope, representing a significant milestone in the AU’s efforts to develop its own peacekeeping capabilities. However, the resolution also comes with substantial challenges, as Ambassador Kimani pointed out that a large portion of funding will need to come from African countries themselves. Guéhenno lamented the difficulties posed by a global political climate that’s become increasingly transactional, with countries approaching political and economic decisions as business deals, focused on immediate, tangible gains rather than long-term collaborative relationships or shared humanitarian goals. “If countries begin to auction themselves to the highest bidder, that doesn’t augur well for the future of the African Union and the African continent,” he said.

Ambassador Kimani made a case for bolstering the relationship between the EU and AU, arguing that Africa is Europe’s most significant future opportunity. He added that the EU must overcome structural racism and hierarchical thinking in its approach to Africa, but said he believed that demographic changes in Europe would eventually force a more serious engagement with the continent.

As the discussion wrapped up, Ambassador Kimani was clear that there’s a growing gap between the critical need for humanitarian intervention in Africa and the political will to support such missions. “Global peacekeeping, when it is not to attend to political processes, is about civilian protection, and the need for intervention in conditions of extreme harm to civilians has never been greater,” he said.