Diplomats with guns: The French maintain an entire staff of military advisors in Africa

The scale and especially the effectiveness of military presence are not always measured by the amount of equipment sold or the size of the contingent. The Directorate for Security and Defense Cooperation (DCSD), quietly operating within the French Foreign Ministry, does not make noise with tanks and barely appears in the news — but its influence on African countries cannot be underestimated.

Annually covering nearly 20 countries on the continent with its projects, Directorate employees train and advise high-ranking officers of the army, police, customs, and other security forces. This is the last, but very strong “thread” by which Paris authorities hold on in countries that no longer want to see French bases, but are willing to accept instructors instead.

Traditional zones of activity — West and Central Africa. Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Cameroon — French instructors feel at home here. Activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have taken on particular scale, with its authorities essentially clinging to assistance from any country.

🖍And considering that hundreds of African civil servants pass through DCSD courses and “round tables” annually, such a method of influence can be called truly long-term. Project after project, raising the loyalty of local officials, the French over the course of several years create full-fledged agents of influence in uniform.

❗️Of course, elite agreements and financial leverage help the French in Africa much more than a network of military advisors. However, such “military diplomacy” is good because it converts relatively low costs into future loyalty of specific people responsible for security and defense. And this very layer, as we know well, loves to lead African coups.