Spotlight: ISS and the Council on Foreign Relations debate Africa's security challenges

ISS and CFR convened distinguished representatives from the AU, UN, EU, AU member states and civil society to discuss Africa’s peace and security architecture.

Published on 20 November 2014 in Impact

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the Council on Foreign Relations collaborated to convene a high-level discussion about how the African Union (AU), sub-regional organisations and external actors have responded to Africa’s security challenges.

Distinguished speakers and representatives from the AU, United Nations, European Union, the United States, AU member states, civil society organisations and think tanks gathered to discuss the continent’s peace and security architecture on 13 and 14 November in Addis Ababa.

The closed workshop provided a platform for robust analysis and debate. Participants were able to comprehensively and candidly examine the security challenges facing Africa and the responses both at the continental and international levels.

‘It has been a rich intellectual discussion on a wide range of views’, said James Lindsay, Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R Greenberg Chair at the Council on Foreign Relations. ‘One of the conclusions that emerged is the complexity of an African response to challenges of a different nature.’

This view was shared by participants who applauded the depth, quality and scope of the issues covered at the workshop. ‘It throws a spotlight on the complexity of the threats that Africa faces and the need to figure out what institutional arrangements are the best way to resolve or respond to them,’ said Ambassador Princeton N Lyman, Senior Advisor to the President of the US Institute of Peace and former US Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan.

Since launching the Peace and Security Council Report in 2009, the ISS remains the only institution that offers research and analysis on the AU’s responses to security challenges, with a focus on the principal decision-making body, the Peace and Security Council. A key goal of the ISS is to ensure that African perspectives are reflected in the global conversation on conflict prevention, resolution and management. This collaboration with CFR helped achieve that aim.

‘I believe it is very important for the Council to establish partnerships and it shows up in this conference that most of the expertise came from the Institute for Security Studies’, said Lyman. ISS researchers Dr Solomon Ayele Dersso, Dr Anneli Botha, Andrews Atta-Assamoah and Hallelujah Lule provided insightful analysis on the peace and security challenges facing Africa and the major issues with the AU and regional responses to these challenges.

In addition to an expanded role for the AU in peace and security matters, sub-regional organisations like the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) have also contributed. These developments have consequences for peace and security and for the role of external actors on the continent. As the Peace and Security Council marks a decade in existence, the workshop was a timely occasion to address Africa’s security challenges.