ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on describing the strategic use of inertia by the UN to maintain policy continuity in the Sahel. The opening section presents the bureaucratic structure of UN peacebuilding from the creation of the Peacebuilding Architecture in 2005 until the most recent institutional reforms (UN80). This chapter then turns to how inertia functions in the face of both internal and external contestation. The three mechanisms that configure strategic inertia are analysed. Groupthink outlines how the promotion of a stable self-identity drives staff selection, suppresses dissent, and fosters internal loyalty to liberal norms, often leading to an exclusionary environment. In Backlash Prevention, it is shown how UN bureaucracy reflects the commitment to liberal norms and practices by filtering CSOs and controlling narratives during the policy adoption phase, especially when dealing with securitarian pressure. Finally, Pathological Behaviours highlights how adherence to norms often overrides effectiveness, with examples like the persistence of ineffective early warning systems and biased monitoring practices. Throughout this chapter, bureaucratic inertia emerges not as a dysfunction but as a strategic tool for policy continuity, used to defend liberal values amidst rising authoritarian pressures and complex field realities in the Sahel.
