2023-04-20 19:10:54
RFI: In what frameworks were these bilateral military cooperation agreements signed by Rwanda with other countries?
Paul-Simon Handy : It must be said that they are often born out of a crisis. The Central African Republic is particularly interesting because Rwanda is present there both within the framework of the UN peacekeeping mission and bilaterally, on the basis of a request made by the Central African government which was facing an armed rebellion.
The Central African Republic, the government of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, needed help from the Russians on one side and the Rwandan army. And, now, the government of Benin is facing an inexorable rise in violent extremist movements and obviously has some concerns in dealing with this rise in insecurity.
What does Rwanda get from its military deployments? Is it just financial?
Already, it’s financial or a return on investment of any kind. But I don’t think it’s just that. I think that Rwanda also derives a diplomatic gain in terms of recognition. Rwanda is still a small country that has developed a real reputation for efficiency and professionalism.
It must be said that Rwanda’s bilateral deployments are often crowned with success. This was the case in the Central African Republic. This was the case in Mozambique. We will see what the Beninese experience will give. So there is certainly a financial gain. But there is a gain in what can be considered as “soft power”, prestige, which may prepare the bilateral agreements of tomorrow.
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With this military diplomacy, what you call “soft power”, what is Rwanda’s objective? To have made itself so indispensable that the country has an image that cannot be attacked or that is more complicated to shake up on the diplomatic scene?
Very probably, because Rwanda is also the country whose conduct of diplomacy is contested in its immediate surroundings, in the Great Lakes, particularly in the Congo. And, bringing that military diplomacy, earns points. But relations have become strained with allies like the United States. So, there is certainly the mode of financing of the Rwandan model to change. And I think that this military diplomacy is also a means for Rwanda to diversify its sources of income, which makes it possible to explore new avenues, diplomatic and military.
A Rwandan army deployed in several foreign countries despite an estimated 35,000 soldiers
Rwanda does not have a bloated army. According to researchers, its workforce is around 35,000 soldiers. She is the heir to the rebellion of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) of Paul Kagame which, step by step, integrated elements of the former national army.
It then underwent an effective reform, according to a specialist in the region, financed in part by the United States and Great Britain. This allowed him to open up and to specialize in peacekeeping missions. ” The Rwandan army has exported its expertise to the UN missions, but also to the African Union. And she got a solid reputation », for the researcher Paul-Simon Handy.
The number of Rwandan soldiers deployed in this type of mission is currently estimated at more than 5,000 men. Currently or in the past, Rwandan contingents have been deployed in the Central African Republic, Mali, Darfur, but also in Somalia.
Recently, it is a new field that Rwanda has invested militarily; that of deployments within the framework of bilateral agreements: in the Central African Republic, in Mozambique and therefore soon in Benin, where cooperation would initially be more focused on training and supervision.
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