Military Review English Edition November December 2016 | Page 74

Members of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and the
French army’s Operation Sangaris force conduct security February 2016 in Bangui, Central African Republic (CAR). French soldiers initially
were deployed to the CAR in December 2013 to prevent a humanitarian crisis; two thousand deployed by February 2014. As of July 2016,
Sangaris had downsized to 350 French troops, and MINUSCA was the primary international security force in the CAR. (Photo by Staff of
the Armed Forces of France)

Operation Sangaris
A Case Study in Limited
Military Intervention
Maj. Rémy Hémez, French Army

O

n 5 December 2013, France launched Operation
Sangaris in the Central African Republic
(CAR). In the days that followed, there were
harsh debates about the operation’s likely effectiveness.
Critics pointed to the low numbers of French and multinational troops, given the complexity of the mission
and the scale of the operational area. They also pointed
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out that, in terms of military effectiveness, Operation
Sangaris appeared likely to be less effective than
Operation Serval (2013–2 014), despite their fundamentally different natures. Serval was launched in Mali eleven
months prior, and “many French and foreign observers
were surprised by both the swiftness of the deployment
and the promptness of results.”1
November-December 2016  MILITARY REVIEW