An examination of how peacekeeping is woven into national, regional and international politics in Africa, and its consequences.

First published in 1998, Peacekeeping in Africa was written to help make up the shortfall in the number of books that concentrated specifically on peacekeeping in Africa. The book covers the main peacekeeping operations of Africa, and provides a wealth of background material. In doing so, it explores the policies and actions of the international organisations concerned and the participating African states. It also considers the impact of sub-regional powers and the role of the USA, Britain, and France. Comprising three parts, Peacekeeping in Africa examines world perspectives, case studies, and wider issues surrounding Africa’s peacekeeping operations.

"This book is about the games that Great Powers play. Nearly half of all UN peacekeeping missions in the post-Cold War era have been in Africa, and the continent currently hosts the greatest number (and also the largest) of such missions in the world. Uniquely assessing five decades of UN peacekeeping in Africa, Adekeye Adebajo focuses on a series of questions: What accounts for the resurgence of UN peacekeeping efforts in Africa after the Cold War? What are the factors that have determined the success, or contributed to the failure, of the missions? Does the mandating of so many peacekeeping missions signify the failure of Africa's regional security organizations? And, crucially, how can a new division of labour be established between the UN and Africa's security organisations to more effectively manage conflicts on the continent? Adebajo's historically informed approach provides an in-depth analysis of the key domestic, regional, and external factors that shaped the outcomes of fifteen UN missions, offering critical lessons for future peacekeeping efforts in Africa and beyond." --

This study examines the African Union's peacekeeping role in managing African conflicts. Based on a qualitative research methodology, it analyses AU peace operations in Burundi and Somalia, and hybrid peacekeeping in Darfur, in order to identify the lessons learned and suggest how future outcomes may be improved.

This book offers a detailed examination of the effectiveness of the peacekeeping operations of the African Union. Despite its growing reputation in peacekeeping and its status as the oldest continental peacekeeper, the performance of the African Union (AU) has hitherto not been assessed. This book fills that gap and analyses six case studies: Burundi, Comoros, Somalia, Mali, Darfur and the Central African Republic. From a methodological perspective it takes a problem-solving approach and utilises process tracing in its analysis, with its standard for success resting on achieving negative peace (the cessation of violence and provision of security). Theoretically, this study offers a comprehensive list of factors drawn from peace literature and field experience which influence the outcome of peacekeeping. Beyond the major issues, such as funding, international collaboration and mandate, this work also examines the impact of largely ignored factors such as force integrity and territory size. The book modifies the claim of peace literature on what matters for success and advocates the indispensability of domestic elite cooperation, local initiative and international political will. It recognises the necessity of factors such as lead state and force integrity for certain peace operations. In bringing these factors together, this study expands the peacekeeping debate on what matters for stability in conflict areas. This book will be of much interest to students of peacekeeping, African politics, war and conflict studies, and International Relations in general.

This timely volume explores the “dark side” of United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping in Africa: when rather than help establish a rule of law in the host country, they become perpetrators of crime. The work of the UN peacekeepers is generally comprised of police and military personnel, from countries who contribute voluntarily to assist war-torn countries create conditions for lasting peace. Overall, these peacekeeping efforts are perceived positively, with volunteers giving their time and risking their lives to bring normalcy and peace to civilians in countries with conflict. In fact, there are cases where UN Peacekeepers are sometimes the victims of violent crimes, and need security and protection themselves. Although instances of abuse are not widespread and are certainly not isolated to Africa, this work focuses on Africa because there is a high concentration of UN Peacekeepers there, and lessons learned can be applied to other regions. The instances of abuse cover serious crimes including sexual abuse and exploitation, child and arms trafficking, and corruption, all of some of the most vulnerable populations in the world at the time. Although these instances are not extensive, they remain a fundamental problem because there is no existing mechanism for prosecution in the international area: it is only the troops’ home country, not the UN, who has the right to exercise criminal jurisdiction. The also undermine the good work that UN Peacekeepers are doing all over the world. This work is concerned with highlighting why these instances occur, and why specific forms of abuse are more prevalent than others. It also discusses how to prevent abuse and violations from happening in the first place, and creating a culture of change and accountability. Finally, taking into account cultural and legal systems from troops’ home countries, the author considers the ways that local rules can be aligned with international standards. In will be of interest to researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice, International Relations, Sociology and Demography, Public Health, Comparative Law, and other related disciplines.

This book examines peacekeeping in Africa, exploring how the various actors are forming an African security regime complex. The changing dynamics of peacekeeping in today’s world have encouraged a more cooperative approach between international and regional actors. At the centre of this book is the analysis of how an African security regime complex could emerge in the area of cooperative peacekeeping. The African regime complex on peacekeeping includes a number of organizations at the regional and sub-regional African level, as well as global institutions such as the UN, interregional partners like the EU and individual lead nations. This book is the first in providing a systematic overview of peacekeeping doctrines, capacities and deployments of these key actors and single lead states. Theoretically, the book links up with regime complexity scholarship but connects it with dependency theory. Here inter-institutional relations are conceptualised as acts of resource exchange. The book explores how primarily international organizations are partnering by exchanging resources. Empirically, the study analyses the phenomenon of regime complexity in three prominent African crises covering Eastern Africa (Somalia), Central African (Central African Republic) and Western Africa (Mali). This book will be of much interest to students of peacekeeping, international organisations, African politics, security studies and IR in general.