Supranational Institutions and Peacebuilding in Africa

Supranational Institutions and Peacebuilding in Africa
Author: Redie Bereketeab
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2024-09-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1040127827

This book analyses the role of the African Union and regional economic communities in contributing to peacebuilding in Africa. Big and small conflicts rage across the African continent, and this book argues that the African Union and the five regional economic communities have the potential to greatly contribute to peace and peacebuilding In Africa. Looking across the African Union and the five regional economic communities (the AMU, ECCAS, ECOWAS, IGAD, and SADC), the book considers in detail the organizations’ programmes, engagement, endeavours, success and failure of activities of peacebuilding in their respective regions. Overall, the book argues that an institutionalised and formalised relationship between the African Union and the regional economic communities would not only be decisive for the prospects for peace in the region but would also serve to strengthen the continent’s role on the global stage through asserting its agency, owning its agenda, and designing its own solutions and mechanisms for addressing problems. Drawing together an international team of prominent experts, this book will be of interest to researchers, policymakers, NGOs, activists, and regional and international actors working on African politics, security, governance, and economics.

Regional Economic Communities and Peacebuilding in Africa

Regional Economic Communities and Peacebuilding in Africa
Author: Victor Adetula
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 183
Release: 2020-12-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 100034276X

This book outlines challenges to the effective operation of regional economic communities (RECs) with regards to peacebuilding in Africa. Critically examining these issues from an interdisciplinary perspective, with a focus on comparative analysis of the status, role, and performances of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), it examines particular constraints to their effective participation in regional initiatives. Focussing on inadequate technical capabilities, the complicity of state and non-state actors in conflicts within a region, the domestic politics of member states, it additionally addresses related theories and practices of peacekeeping, security, development, and the peacebuilding nexus. It also engages provisioning, regionalism, and regional peacekeeping interventions, the legal and institutional framework of RECs, and civil society and peacebuilding. Fundamentally, the book asks how effective the alliances and partnerships are in promoting regional peace and security and how much they are compromised by the intervention of external powers and actors, exploring new ideas and actions that may strengthen capacities to address the peacebuilding challenges on the continent effectively. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of African politics and studies, peace and security studies, regionalism studies, policy practitioners in the field of African peacebuilding, and more broadly to international relations. The Open Access version of this book, available at: http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003093695, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Contested Heritage in Europe and Africa

Contested Heritage in Europe and Africa
Author: Marco Zoppi
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2024-10-25
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1040157602

This book investigates Euro-African cultural relations, considering their connected histories through material and immaterial forms of representation, commemoration, and memorialization. Recent waves of protest around the world have called for restitution of looted African art, and toppled statues and vandalized monuments which are connected to white suprematism, colonialism, and imperialism. These events have highlighted an urgent need to debate the management and preservation of Europe and Africa’s shared heritage. Drawing on a range of varied, trans-continental case studies, this book considers the key question of whether such monuments should be removed as forms of unacceptable celebration of an evil past, or preserved precisely because of what they recount about that past of oppression and domination. The book encourages readers to consider how diverse and pervasive the notions of shared heritage and common past are, encompassing discussions of statues, exhibitions, graffiti, tapestries, and commemorations. Providing a timely analysis of the developing cultural relations between Africa and Europe, this book will be an important resource for researchers across the fields of global history, heritage studies, memory studies, and international relations.

Conflict and Peacebuilding in the African Great Lakes Region

Conflict and Peacebuilding in the African Great Lakes Region
Author: Kenneth Omeje
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2013-06-19
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0253008484

Driven by genocide, civil war, political instabilities, ethnic and pastoral hostilities, the African Great Lakes Region, primarily Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Burundi, has been overwhelmingly defined by conflict. Kenneth Omeje, Tricia Redeker Hepner, and an international group of scholars, many from the Great Lakes region, focus on the interlocking conflicts and efforts toward peace in this multidisciplinary volume. These essays present a range of debates and perspectives on the history and politics of conflict, highlighting the complex internal and external sources of both persistent tension and creative peacebuilding. Taken together, the essays illustrate that no single perspective or approach can adequately capture the dynamics of conflict or offer successful strategies for sustainable peace in the region.

Contesting Sovereignty

Contesting Sovereignty
Author: Joel Ng
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2021-07-22
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1108490611

Examines and compares diplomatic practices and normative change in the African Union and ASEAN.

Africa and the Responsibility to Protect

Africa and the Responsibility to Protect
Author: Dan Kuwali
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 411
Release: 2013-11-26
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1317917758

Situations of serious or massive violations of human rights are no longer purely of domestic concern, and sovereignty can no longer be an absolute shield for repressive governments in such circumstances. Based on this realization, the international community has recognized a responsibility to protect individuals in states where their governments are unable or unwilling to provide protection against the most serious violations. However, so far, only one intergovernmental organization, the African Union (AU), has explicitly made the right to intervene in a Member State part of its foundational text in Article 4(h) of its Constitutive Act. Although there have been cases of Article 4(h)-type interventions in Africa, the AU Assembly has not yet invoked Article 4(h) explicitly. This book brings together experts in the field to explore the potential application of Article 4(h), and the complexities that may explain its non-invocation so far. Although Article 4(h) is noble in purpose, its implementation faces several legal and policy challenges given that the use of force penetrates the principles of state sovereignty and non-intervention – the very cornerstones upon which the AU is founded. This book considers these issues, as well as the need to reconcile Article 4(h), in so far as it allows the AU to exercise military intervention to protect populations at risk of mass atrocities, with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations. Drawing from the insights of law, political science, diplomacy and military strategy, the book offers a unique combination of multi-disciplinary expertise that harnesses the views of a diverse group of authors, focused on the legal, policy, and practical insights on the implementation of Article 4(h) and the responsibility to protect in Africa in order to provide concrete recommendations on how to end mass atrocities on the continent

Researching Peacebuilding in Africa

Researching Peacebuilding in Africa
Author: Ismail Rashid
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2020-11-29
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000284077

This book examines the multifaceted nature of conflict and the importance of the socio-economic and political contexts of conflict and violence and shows how to support ongoing initiatives and programs to build sustainable peace on the African continent. Drawing on a range of conceptual framings in the study of peace and conflict, from gender perspectives to institutionalist to decolonial perspectives, the contributors show how peacebuilding research covers a whole range of questions that go beyond concerns for post-conflict reconstruction strategies. Chapters focus on the methodological, theoretical and practical aspects of peacebuilding and provide a toolbox of perspectives for conceptualizing and doing peacebuilding research in Africa. Anchored in African-centered perspectives, the book encourages and promotes high-quality interdisciplinary research that is conflict-sensitive, historically informed, theoretically grounded and analytically sound. This book will be of benefit to scholars, policy makers and research institutions engaged in peacebuilding in Africa.

Routledge Handbook of Environmental Conflict and Peacebuilding

Routledge Handbook of Environmental Conflict and Peacebuilding
Author: Ashok Swain
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2018-04-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1315473755

The past two decades have witnessed the emergence of a large body of research examining the linkage between environmental scarcity, violent conflict, and cooperation. However, this environmental security polemic is still trying to deliver a well-defined approach to achieving peace. Studies are being undertaken to find the precise pathways by which cooperative actions are expected not only to pre-empt or moderate resource conflicts but also to help diffuse cooperative behaviour to other disputed issues. The recognition that environmental resources can contribute to violent conflict accentuates their potential significance as pathways for cooperation and the consolidation of peace in post-conflict societies. Conceived as a single and reliable reference source which will be a vital resource for students, researchers, and policy makers alike, the Routledge Handbook of Environmental Conflict and Peacebuilding presents a wide range of chapters written by key thinkers in the field, organised into four key parts: Part I: Review of the concept and theories; Part II: Review of thematic approaches (resources, scarcity, intervention, adaptation, and peacebuilding); Part III: Case studies (Middle East, Iraq, Jordan, Liberia, Nepal, Colombia, Philippines); Part IV: Analytical challenges and future-oriented perspectives. Enabling the reader to find a concise expert review on topics that are most likely to arise in the course of conducting research or policy making, this volume presents a truly global overview of the key issues and debates in environmental conflict and peacebuilding.