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How much weight for military capabilities? Africa's new peace and security architecture and the role of external actors
Wie viel Gewicht für militärische Fähigkeiten? Die neue Friedens- und Sicherheitsarchitektur Afrikas und die Rolle externer Akteure
[working paper]
Corporate Editor
Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik gGmbH
Abstract "Peace and security have become a priority issue for the African continent itself, but also for
the international community. The dynamics that Africa has developed on its own as well as
the dynamics currently involved in outside support for Africa are concerned not exclusively
but in large measure w... view more
"Peace and security have become a priority issue for the African continent itself, but also for
the international community. The dynamics that Africa has developed on its own as well as
the dynamics currently involved in outside support for Africa are concerned not exclusively
but in large measure with military capabilities. In fact, there have in the past been only too
many examples that clearly indicate that mechanisms put in place by African nations themselves
(e.g. the Organisation for African Unity) or by the international community have been
unwilling or unable to intervene militarily in extreme emergency situations to protect civilian
populations. Against this background, the present paper will outline the conflict situation given in Africa at present; in doing so, it will seek to determine (i) what the constitutive elements of the new African peace and security architecture are, (ii) how and in what form external actors are supporting African efforts in this regard, and (iii) what shape future challenges may take on. The paper will furthermore discuss whether the ongoing debate on the military dimension is more an indication of a 'backlog' of issues that demand more attention, or whether the discussion
must instead been seen as an indication of an overly narrow focus on the military. And not
least, the paper will look into the implications all this has for development policy.
The present paper comes to the conclusion that the ongoing African efforts and measures
aimed at implementing a new peace and security architecture must, on the whole, be seen as
positive. However, there are still a number of structural deficits that must be overcome to
implement a truly effective peace and security architecture. The efforts currently being undertaken by external actors in this field must be seen as positive. However, it would certainly not be advisable to concentrate solely on military security. There is, on the one hand, a need to
enlarge the options available for short-term responses and peace missions. Seen in these
terms, there is certainly still much work to be done in this area. On the other hand, this should
not be allowed to obscure the fact that it is essential to assign high priority to long-term efforts." (author's abstract)... view less
Keywords
conflict potential; foreign policy; peace policy; peacekeeping; civil war; conflict resolution; conflict structure; Africa; defense policy; conflict situation; security policy; peace process; violence; development policy; military conflict; international organization; conflict management; conflict mediation; peacekeeping troops; international politics; peace negotiation
Classification
Peace and Conflict Research, International Conflicts, Security Policy
Method
empirical; quantitative empirical
Document language
English
Publication Year
2005
City
Bonn
Page/Pages
28 p.
Series
DIE Discussion Paper, 2/2005
ISBN
3-88985-282-3
Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications
Data providerThis metadata entry was indexed by the Special Subject Collection Social Sciences, USB Cologne