Military Peacekeeping Mediation: A First-Hand Account from Mali

Abstract will be posted shortly.

Lieutenant General (Ret.) Dr Dennis Gyllensporre is an Associate Professor in Security Policy and Strategy at the Swedish Defence University and an Associate Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. He also holds office as the Vice President of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences. Gyllensporre has 38 years of service in the Swedish Armed Forces. In October 2021, he completed three years of service as the Force Commander for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). He came from a four-year appointment as the Chief of Defence Staff (VCDS in UK terminology) and Director of Special Forces of the Swedish Armed Forces. He was promoted to Lieutenant General in 2014. Gyllensporre has multifaceted credentials in international cooperation and an extensive track record in interaction with political entities. This experience spans from operations at the tactical level to scientific work in renowned journals. He was appointed the military expert to the parliamentary Defence Commission for five years. Gyllensporre has served as a staff officer in various positions, including tours abroad in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Sudan, and served as a military advisor in international crisis management at the MoD. He has also been assigned as chief of staff at the Swedish Joint Operations Command and later as head of the Doctrine and Concepts Branch at the European Union Military Staff. In 2008 he was deployed to Afghanistan as the Chief of Staff at Regional Command North of the NATO-led operation (ISAF). Subsequently, Gyllensporre has held several positions in the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters, including Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commanders staff and Head of the Policy and Plans department. He has studied at numerous military institutions and holds several academic degrees, including a Master of Science in Computer Science (Royal National Institute of Technology, Sweden), Master of Business Administration (Warwick University, United Kingdom), Master of Military Arts and Science (USA Army Command and General Staff College), as well as a PhD in Policy Analysis and Governance (Maastricht University, the Netherlands). He is the author of several books and academic articles on military strategy and security studies.

He is a recipient of the Swedish Armed Forces Medal of Merit in gold for distinguished leadership during combat and war-like situations, the French Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur, the Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mali, and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Award (2001) for academic achievements at U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He was selected as the ‘Leader of Change 2022’ in Sweden for successful work as an adaptation manager. Gyllensporre is inaugurated to the Hall of Fame at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (2017) and the U.S. National Defense University (2022).