Beyond Fashoda: Anglo-French security cooperation in Africa since St-Malo

Traditionally divided on security matters, France and Britain broke new ground when they signed the 1998 Saint-Malo agreement, promising to collaborate on defence and security, and pledging to cooperate bilaterally and in a ‘bi-multi’ fashion on Africa. This Anglo-French collaboration is the focus of this article, which begins by setting out the lack of UK–French security cooperation in Africa from the colonial to the early post-Cold War era. It then shows how there has been a degree of institutionalization of Anglo-French relations, alongside greater cooperation in terms of ESDP missions and the training of African peacekeepers. Next, this study explains the recent evolution of UK–French security relations in terms of neo-classical realist theory. Finally, it assesses the likelihood of closer Anglo-French security collaboration in the future