The frequent violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is part of a series of interlinked, complex conflicts encompassing the African Great Lakes region. The DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda all…
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Essays
From Ethnic Violence to Seeds of Peace: Pastoralists, Youth, and Intercommunity Peacebuilding in Northwestern Kenya
by Willis Okumu
Introduction Northwestern Kenya has been a theatre of violent conflict pitting the Pokot, Samburu, and Turkana communities against one another in a fierce and deadly competition. This has been catalyzed by diminishing pasture and water resources, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, political incitement, disputes over land and ethnic boundaries, the absence of […]
Book Reviews
Peacebuilding in the African Union: Law, Philosophy and Practice, by Abou Jeng
by Olabanji Akinola
Despite its encounters with the international community in the past five centuries, Africa’s socioeconomic, legal, and political development remains a source of grave concern for many observers and scholars. While some trace the source of the continent’s underdevelopment to the foundational problems embedded in its historical engagements with the western world, others maintain that the […]
Book Reviews
I Did It to Save My Life: Love and Survival in Sierra Leone, by Catherine E. Bolten
by Danny Hoffman
Sierra Leone’s was a complicated war. One of the first post-Cold War conflicts, and seemingly one of the more intractable and bizarre, there is still no consensus explanation for what happened in Sierra Leone and neighboring Liberia throughout the 1990s. Scholars from political science, anthropology, history, psychology, and sociology have looked to this small West […]
Essays
Towards More Effective Partnership Peacekeeping in Africa
by Paul Williams
Partnership peacekeeping involves official or unofficial attempts by multiple actors to coordinate the objectives of their peace operations. In Africa, the last two decades have seen partnership peacekeeping become more and more common. This is the result of several interrelated trends, but perhaps foremost among them is the widespread recognition that no single international organization has either a monopoly on peacekeeping or the capabilities to deal with Africa’s conflict-management challenges alone.
Essays
AU-UN Synergy: Envisioning Credible Ownership of African Peace and Security Architecture?
by Linnéa Gelot
At the heart of African peace and security architecture (APSA) is the aspiration for enhanced African autonomy, often referred to as the “African solutions to African problems” agenda. When the AU commissioner for peace and security addressed the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) in January 2012, he identified the primary element in strengthening the […]
Essays
Africa and the Emerging Powers: An Evolving Analytical Inquiry?
by Sanusha Naidu
As the 2015 MDG benchmark approaches, there is much to reflect on especially with respect to Africa’s global revitalization in international relations. Undoubtedly, the rise of Southern actors (such as Brazil, China, India, the Gulf States, South Korea, and Turkey) as part of Africa’s political and economic landscape has set off a new wave of […]
