Abstract
United Nations peacekeeping operations have been through notable changes during the last twenty years. Peacekeepers are now deployed in on-going conflicts were there are no peace to keep. This shift includes a robust turn, where the peacekeepers are mandated to use force for a longer-term involvement. In addition, UN´s role as an impartial actor has moved towards the political goal of stabilization. That the UN now is seen as an impartial actor has highlighted the conflicting interface between the peacekeepers and humanitarian actors, and also raised challenging questions about the preservation of humanitarian space in the new context of UN peacekeeping. The on-going peacekeeping mission in Mali, known by its French acronym MINUSMA, serves as an example of the new category of UN peacekeeping operations. Often referred to as the deadliest peacekeeping mission today, MINUSMA has been faced with several challenges since its deployment in 2013, including the threat from jihadist groups. In this thesis, I have studied to what extent a clear division between humanitarian actors and MINUSMA is a precondition for the preservation of humanitarian space in the context of northern Mali. This has been done through so-called analytical eclecticism, where different theoretical approaches on civil-military interaction have been deployed to answer the research question. Based on interviews conducted during a fieldwork in Bamako, I find that that the civil-military interaction in Mali today is limited and challenging. The humanitarians perceive the UN peacekeeping force as an obstacle to their activities, as well as a threat to their security. This must be seen in relation to the volatile nature of the conflict, and the peacekeepers political involvement. The analysis also illustrates that it was easier to conduct humanitarian activities in northern Mali before the deployment of MINUSMA. Accordingly, a clear division between humanitarian actors and MINUSMA is to a large extent seen as a precondition to preserve humanitarian space.