Compounding Fragmentation

The report examines SFA in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Somalia since 2010, finding that billions in spending have often been ineffective or counter-productive. It identifies a 'piecemeal approach' where multiple providers with diverging interests create fragmented security forces, undermining professional standards and civilian oversight. Case studies of Mali and Somalia highlight issues such as high personnel turnover, a focus on technical skills over ethics, and the diversion of equipment to illicit markets. The authors recommend long-term, coordinated partnerships based on detailed local capacity assessments to foster cohesion rather than fragmentation.

• Security Force Assistance (SFA) in the studied regions often proves ineffective or counter-productive because it contributes to political fragmentation within recipient states and their security forces.
• SFA providers frequently employ a piecemeal approach, implementing multiple programmes with diverging objectives that weaken the overall effectiveness and cohesion of the recipient's security forces.
• The design of SFA programmes is often ill-suited for fragile states, relying on short-term, low-cost, and low-risk approaches that hinder quality assurance and the achievement of long-term goals.
• In Mali, EU training missions (EUTM and EU CAP) have been limited by short two-year mandates and high personnel turnover, preventing the development of long-term strategies and deep local knowledge.
• SFA in Mali has focused excessively on short-term technical and operational skills, neglecting the development of a professional military ethos and values necessary to defend civilian government.
• In Somalia, SFA has been undermined by a lack of unified doctrine among various international providers and severe issues with oversight, leading to the diversion of weapons to black markets.
• SFA in Somalia has sometimes exacerbated political fragmentation by supporting regional militias, which has led to violent confrontations between these groups and the central government.
• The operational environment of fragile states creates significant implementation hurdles, including high recruit illiteracy—estimated at 80% in some Somali assessments—and the use of 'coup proofing' strategies by authoritarian leaders to limit SFA effectiveness.
• Between 2010 and 2018, the US and EU spent approximately USD 5.2 billion on country-specific and regional SFA programmes covering the six studied states.

APA

Rolandsen, Ø. H., Marsh, N., Sandnes, M., & Karssen, J. (n.d.). Compounding Fragmentation. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/6cde910a-90c8-44ba-b747-f27c3f32fe37/Marsh Rolandsen Karssen Sandnes - Compounding Fragmentation - PRIO Paper 2020.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Rolandsen, Øystein H., Nicholas Marsh, Marie Sandnes, and Julian Karssen. Compounding Fragmentation. Peace Research Institute Oslo, n.d. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/6cde910a-90c8-44ba-b747-f27c3f32fe37/Marsh Rolandsen Karssen Sandnes - Compounding Fragmentation - PRIO Paper 2020.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Rolandsen |first1=Øystein H. |last2=Marsh |first2=Nicholas |last3=Sandnes |first3=Marie |last4=Karssen |first4=Julian |title=Compounding Fragmentation |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/6cde910a-90c8-44ba-b747-f27c3f32fe37/Marsh Rolandsen Karssen Sandnes - Compounding Fragmentation - PRIO Paper 2020.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rolandsenndcompounding, author = {Rolandsen, Øystein H. and Marsh, Nicholas and Sandnes, Marie and Karssen, Julian}, title = {{Compounding Fragmentation}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/6cde910a-90c8-44ba-b747-f27c3f32fe37/Marsh Rolandsen Karssen Sandnes - Compounding Fragmentation - PRIO Paper 2020.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }