Peace In Africa Research Articles

Hegemony and the Chinese Non-Interference Policy in Africa—A Friend or Foe?

China is Africa’s largest trade partner and enjoys deep political ties with many African states. However, the strength and depth of these relations are not reflected in China’s contribution to African peace and security. This research therefore unpacks the reason for such a discrepancy by placing non-interference at the centre of the question. The working hypotheses for this paper are that with regard to the resolution of African conflicts, the impact of China’s policy of non-interference is twofold. Firstly, the sovereignty of African states is bolstered as China refrains from interfering in the internal affairs of the respective state. Secondly, China’s rigid interpretation of non-interference becomes an obstacle preventing China from playing an active role in the resolution of African conflict. The hypothesis will be tested by means of a comparative case study by contrasting how Chinese non-interference has impacted the respective peace processes in Zimbabwe. What is evident from an evaluation of these cases is that cooperation with key regional organisations is sorely lacking in China’s approach to the promotion of peace in Africa. This paper, thus aims, to offer an alternative framework in which China can play an active and constructive role yet still abiding by the founding principles of non-interference.

One Election, Two Victories: Ghana’s 2016 General Elections Revisited

This article examines election-related violence that characterizes some electoral processes across Africa. The study thematically focussed on two dominant political parties in Ghana, thus the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in respect of the December 2016 Presidential election. These two political parties have alternated executive power in Ghana since the birth of the Fourth Republic in January 1993, with Ghana having failed to maintain the status quo immediately after independence from British colonial rule. The claims and counterclaims of victory immediately after polls closed in the December, 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, brought Ghana to the brink of election violence. Both parties’ counter-claimed victory, purportedly based on ‘results’ obtained from their polling agents posted across the various polling stations in all the 275 constituencies. The Electoral Commission (EC), which supervised the general election was surprisingly mute in declaring the winner of the 2016 Presidential election in the midst of these controversies. This paper argues that the vacuum created by the EC per its delay in the declaration of certified Presidential election results after polls had closed, was a blot on Ghana’s status as the beacon of democracy and peace in Africa.

Bystander in my own house : a critique of the Africa union’s method and role in ending conflict and establishing peace in Africa

Bystander in my own house : a critique of the Africa union’s method and role in ending conflict and establishing peace in Africa

Traditional African Religions and Social Conflict

Contrary to popular belief, at first glance, traditional African religions––although they have been de-structured, undermined, and overshadowed in public visibility by Islam and Christianity––are not dead. Like Islam and Christianity, traditional religions have ambiguities in their organization and societal ethical codes, where good and evil and love’s splendor and destructive passions are enmeshed. Traditional religions are alive and well and their worldview still influences African understanding of and insight on Christianity and Islam. As the foundation for a global world vision, it is useful to analyze traditional religions in all their ambiguity for the positivity and negativity that they emulate as well as the general population’s attitude toward the issue of social peace in Africa.

“With New Eyes”: Toward Advancing the Commitment of the World Council of Churches to Justice and Peace in Africa

AbstractIn commemorating 70 years of the existence of the World Council of Churches (WCC), especially its global commitment to promoting justice and peace, there is need to enhance its work especially in Africa. While acknowledging and appraising the WCC’s efforts, this article suggests that the challenging case of Africa requires we seek and deploy fresh insights. This essay identifies poor ecumenical relations among churches in Africa as a key obstacle to the WCC’s effort. However, it argues that the principles of dialogue espoused by Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium could serve as powerful resources for the WCC in reimagining an ecumenical Africa that is committed to justice and peace.

Corruption and Combating Corruption: A Framework for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development in Post-Independent Africa

Abstract Since the introduction of democratic reforms in post-independent Africa, most states have been battling corruption to guarantee sustainable peace, human rights and development. Because of the devastating effects of corruption on the realisation of peace, human rights and sustainable development, the world at large and Africa in particular, has strived to fight against corruption with several states adopting national anti-corruption legislation and specialised bodies. Despite international and national efforts to combat corruption, the practice still remains visible in most African states without any effective accountability or transparency in decision-making processes by the various institutions charged with corruption issues. This has further hindered global peace, the effective enjoyment of human rights and sustainable development in the continent. This paper aims to examine the concept of corruption and combating corruption and its impact on peace, human rights and sustainable development in post-independent Africa with a particular focus on Cameroon. It reveals that despite international and national efforts, corruption still remains an obstacle to global peace in Africa requiring a more proactive means among states to achieve economic development. The paper takes into consideration specific socio-economic challenges posed by corruption and the way forward for a united Africa to combat corruption to pull the continent out of poverty, hunger and instability, and to transform it into a better continent for peace, human rights and sustainable development.

ASSESSING THE AFRICAN PEACE AND SECURITY ARCHITECTURE (APSA) FROM AN INSTITUTIONALIST APPROACH AND THE DIFFERENCE IT HAS MADE IN AFRICA SINCE 2002

A Arquitetura de Paz e Segurança Africana (APSA) foi instituída pela União Africana (UA) em 2002 para manter as regras, normas, objetivos e princípios da UA sobre paz, segurança e estabilidade na África. A APSA também foi estabelecida para assegurar que o comportamento dos Estados membros da UA se moldasse a esses princípios e normas. A APSA deveria ser a estrutura operacional para a implementação efetiva de decisões tomadas sobre prevenção de conflitos, operações de paz, operações de apoio à paz, construção da paz e reconstrução pós-conflito. Seu mandato refletia a mudança para a segurança humana, que é amplamente aceita no nível continental. A APSA lidou com questões relacionadas ao desenvolvimento humano; promoção de práticas democráticas, boa governança e respeito aos direitos humanos, ação humanitária e gestão de desastres naturais. No quadro da teoria Neoinstitucionalista da integração, e com o uso de dados secundários, a hipótese deste trabalho é de que a APSA, como resultado de não aplicar de forma uniforme as suas regras para todos os Estados membros, vem tendo dificuldades na atuação em promoção da paz e segurança na África. O artigo, portanto, avalia o desempenho da APSA desde o seu início e apresenta uma visão geral dos principais componentes da APSA, seu arcabouço legal, bem como seus sucessos, perspectivas e desafios. O principal objetivo do artigo é verificar se a APSA fez alguma diferença na área de paz, segurança e estabilidade na África desde a sua criação. O trabalho constatou que, apesar dos grandes avanços feitos pela APSA em cumprir seu mandato para promover a paz, segurança e estabilidade na África, sua incapacidade de aplicar as regras, princípios, valores e normas da UA de maneira uniforme, para assim moldar o comportamento dos Estados membros, vem resultando em prejuízos para sua atuação. Para que a APSA lide eficazmente com os conflitos na África, recomenda-se que a UA desenvolva e mantenha um grande interesse nos recursos técnicos, humanos e financeiros da APSA para permitir que funcione da melhor forma possível. A União Africana é encorajada a permitir que as regras funcionem e que sejam aplicadas uniformemente aos estados membros. A UA deve também continuar a construir e reforçar as suas parcerias com organizações internacionais preocupadas com a paz e a estabilidade em África.

University Infrastructures for Peace in Africa: The Transformative Potential of Higher Education in Conflict Contexts

The purpose of this article is to consider how higher education responds to conflict on campus and in the community. Moving beyond the victim/perpetrator paradigm prevalent in the literature on education in conflict contexts toward the transformative capacity of education, this research suggests that public universities may develop mechanisms that orient the institution toward capacity and consensus building—constructs associated with infrastructures for peace. Findings from comparative case studies conducted in Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya at two public universities demonstrate that both intentional and indirect policies were cultivated to contend with and possibly transform the conditions for localized conflict and begin to theorize university infrastructures for peace.

The fabric of peace in Africa: looking beyond the state; Coping with crisis in African states

The fabric of peace in Africa: looking beyond the state; Coping with crisis in African states

The Second Religious Globalization in Africa: Changes in the Religious Landscape and the Consequences for Social Peace: The Case of Cameroon

AbstractThis article describes the changes in the religious landscape in Africa – on both the Christian and the Muslim sides – using the example of Cameroon, with the objective of determining the eventual implications that these changes can have for social peace in Africa. The country has seen a shift from planned and controlled evangelization and Islamization carried out by recognized political and religious authorities, to evangelization and Islamization done by individuals who, even though they represent religious currents recognized around the world, act autonomously. The religious landscape has consequently changed fundamentally on the geographical level: moving from the usual cleavage between the Christian South and the Muslim North to a total breakdown in ethno‐regional religious territories. The same thing can be observed for various Christian denominations, which are no longer confined to their historic ethno‐regional territories. Religious organizations are now set up in an anarchic manner. All of this is taking place in a fragile local and regional environment which could, as argued here, present a genuine threat to social peace in Cameroon.

South Africa’s peacebuilding in the DRC: Convergence and dissonance with the liberal model

ABSTRACTThe task of transforming countries affected by conflict towards sustainable peace has been a persistent problem. In response to growing intra-state conflict in the post-Cold War era, it has become the norm to prescribe a cocktail of liberal democracy and free-market economics as a universal formula for building peaceful societies. South Africa, since its post-democratic emergence into global affairs, has also been active in promoting peace in Africa along similar lines. This article embarks on an exploratory qualitative analysis of South Africa’s peacebuilding engagements in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It aims to contribute a better understanding of South Africa’s peacebuilding engagements by utilising the DRC case study to point out areas of convergence and dissonance with the dominant liberal model of peacebuilding. The article finds that, although peppered with successes and failures, South Africa does approach peacebuilding in a unique manner. It also calls for a revision of South Africa’s approach, given the varying levels of success in the DRC.

Editorial

Editorial

Short term interests, long term perspectives: Balancing South Africa's peace and security approach in the EU–SA Strategic Partnership

ABSTRACTSouth Africa’s peace and security outlook in the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership has been guided by the content and substance of the founding document, which incorporates an interdependent approach to development. For South Africa, engagement in the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership is framed by its historical background, its identity and the content of its foreign policy. South Africa's foreign policy in particular adopts an integrated approach to securing the state within its surrounding regional and continental geography. This article reviews South Africa's approach to peace and security, in the context of the strategic partnership. The article argues that, overall, South Africa's definition of peace and security is compatible with that of the EU; however, Pretoria's vision of how it provides peace and security has naturally changed in line with the varying international circumstances in which it has found itself. While this has proved difficult at times to reconcile, peace and security collaboration in the strategic partnership has managed to remain intact.

The Management of Democratic Elections in Africa (MDEA) programme at the university of South Africa: Is this the right path towards African solutions?

ABSTRACTThere have been a number of initiatives in Africa to rid the Continent of political instability, conflict, poverty and disease. Many have argued that aid from the West has helped Africa in many ways—from stopping wars, to food relief and rescuing the African environment. Yet others have slated Western involvement which they contend, frequently leaves Africans dependant rather than capable of solving their own problems. In line with the pan-Africanist and the African Union (AU) ideals, there is now a realisation by Africans that there is a need to find African solutions to African challenges and problems. This review article explores the University of South Africa’s (Unisa’s) Management of Democratic Elections in Africa (MDEA) programme, by looking at its objectives and the reason why it must be labelled a Programme, its mandate, which is in line with the brief of the AU and pan-Africanist ideals. The article focuses on how Unisa’s programme responds to the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG); and how it has attempted to facilitate knowledge for peace in Africa, through empowering electoral officials from various African states. The article concludes by looking at the successes and limitations of the Programme over a five-year period, from its inception in 2011.

Introduction to the Special Issue: Women, Leadership, and Peace in Africa

Introduction to the Special Issue: Women, Leadership, and Peace in Africa

English

This study seeks to answer a basic question: what are the merits and flaws of military intervention as a tool of conflict management in Africa? It uses a qualitative research approach and draws on existing literature on conflicts and military intervention in Africa. The study argues that military intervention and peacekeeping operations (PKOs) have become the most common approaches to conflict management in Africa. While these approaches have been effective in mitigating, or at least managing, most of the continent’s conflicts, they are not without lapses. In addition to human and financial costs, dubious intentions of interventions, and damning recent revelations of misdemeanour of peacekeepers, an additional troubling lapse of interventions and PKOs is their inability to address the fundamental causes of conflicts. Consequently, intervention-induced peace in most post-conflicts states remains tenuous, leaving them susceptible to relapse into conflict with the exit of peacekeepers. The article suggests that addressing the root causes is a better and a more sustainable way of mitigating conflicts and promoting peace in Africa. Key words: Africa, conflict, peace, military intervention, PKOs.

Children, Youth, and Armed Conflict: How Youth Participation in Armed Conflict Has Prevented Peace in Africa as Shown by a Case Study in Northern Uganda

Much has been said about the conflict in northern Uganda, a civil conflict that has caused untold suffering in Uganda and the general Great Lakes region of Africa. In most analyses of this armed conflict, children and youth are invisible and are typically regarded as passive, incidental victims or inconsequential actors. In current intrastate, ethno-political conflicts, however, children play an increasing role both as soldiers and, along with other non-combatants, as targets and victims in fighting at the community level. Evidence from the recent conflicts in Northern Uganda and elsewhere , the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children and demonstrates youth documents that significant numbers of children and youth are soldiers in conflicts fought in the post-Cold War era. The increasing participation in political violence of children and youth, many of whom have little schooling, job training, or other means of meeting their basic needs, presents profound obstacles to the construction of peace. Furthermore, current patterns of community-level fighting victimize children and youth, enabling soldiering and the continuation of cycles of armed conflict. To examine the scale and consequences of children and youth involvement in armed conflict, there is need to develop an understanding of the wider psychosocial impact of armed conflict on children and youth. This essay intends to review current knowledge about the psychological impact of political violence on children and youth in Northern Uganda. The essay also aims at constructing culturally appropriate intervention and prevention efforts that assist children, youth, and their families, which can contribute to broader programs of post-conflict reconstruction and development.

Colonial Alienation and Postcolonial Marginality in African Drama: Implications for Lasting Peace in Africa

Colonial Alienation and Postcolonial Marginality in African Drama: Implications for Lasting Peace in Africa

Chinese Peace? An Emergent Norm in African Peace Operations

The steady rise in Chinese participation in peace operations in Africa is a significant development in the post-Cold War collective security architecture. An aspect of China's rise and its challenge to the liberal global order is its contribution to post-conflict peacekeeping, peacebuilding, and peace-making in Africa, areas that have been dominated by the West. The purpose of this article is to bring together literatures that do not usually speak to one another: Chinese discourses on peacebuilding and the debate on the liberal peace in Africa. The subject of this article is the emerging "Chinese peace" discourse. By examining the "Chinese peace" — both its normative content and its on-the-ground participation in a comprehensive liberal peace project — as a part of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) — this article begins to highlight differences, identify tensions, and recognize complementarities between the dominant liberal and the emergent Chinese approach to peacebuilding.

An Analysis of the Influence of Ubuntu Principle on the South Africa Peace Building Process

Sustainable peace building demands that we move beyond the spirit of revenge and to open our world-view to include others. This paper explores how Ubuntu, a South African tacit principle helps in the peace building process in South Africa. It also examines how Ubuntu is essential for unity of humanity and emphasizes the importance of constantly referring to the principles of empathy, forgiveness, sharing in a conscious effort to resolving common problems. The discussion critiqued the western approach to peace building and focused on how Desmond Tutu used the principle of Ubuntu to promote peace building during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) process. Using the secondary data for the analysis, the paper identified five stages of the peace building process including; acknowledgement of guilt, showing remorse and repenting, asking for and giving forgiveness, and payment of compensation or reparation as building blocks of reconciliation and peace building in South Africa.