Monograph 134: Complex Emergencies in the 21st Century. Challenges of New Africa`s Strategic Peace and Security Policy Issues, Edited by Festus B Aboagye

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) is a leading African human security research institution which works towards a stable and peaceful Africa characterised by sustainable development, human rights, the rule of law, democracy and collaborative efforts. With offices in South Africa (Pretoria and Cape Town), Ethiopia (Addis Ababa) and Kenya (Nairobi), the mission of the ISS is to conceptualise, inform the debate on human security in Africa, in order to support policy formulation and decision-making at every level towards the enhancement of human security for all in Africa.

Since the demise of the Cold War, first the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and, foremost the African Union, has been preoccupied with policy approaches and institutionalisation to promote peoples’ security in Africa. In light of the new paradigm of complex humanitarian emergencies, arising from devastating violent armed conflicts, especially within, but also between states, the African Union has since its transformation in 2002 from the OAU, been more proactive in establishing the new architecture and infrastructure for prompt and effective responses to violent armed conflicts, and their resolution and management. In addition to peace building, the Union’s efforts in this regard have included the establishment of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) and the African Standby Force (ASF), as well as engagements within the international community, especially in the area of mobilisation of financial resources to support regional peace implementation.

Given the enormity of New Africa’s security realities and challenges, and the vital importance of its undertakings, particularly in the area of peace support intervention, there is a logical and rational demand for collaboration with the widest range of stakeholders, certainly including African policy research institutions, to complement these regional and international efforts. From a research perspective, such engagement provides an opportunity to examine the key issues that inform New Africa’s peace and security challenges in the 21st century and whether the emerging division of responsibilities between the continent and its partners within the international community is a rational and sustainable one.

This publication by the Training for Peace (TfP) Programme at the ISS is an attempt to contribute to the discourse that is inevitable in enriching the academic, expert and practitioner content of the processes entailed in New Africa’s drive towards a more stable and secure continent for development. The publication brings together analytical papers, based largely on a combination of desk research and a thorough personal knowledge and understanding of the relevant issues, including previous field research, policy exposure and practitioner backgrounds of the authors.

While aiming to inform the readers, the authors deliberately avoid being prescriptive, focusing rather on identifying and interrogating some of the critical issues that are not only salient to the discourse, but which have an impact on efforts towards the security of people in Africa. In essence, the publication is a contribution to the discourse around the challenges of the protection of vulnerable populations at the normative level.

The ISS/TFP acknowledges the invaluable contribution of the authors towards enhancing stability and security within the continent. It also wishes to express sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Royal Norwegian Government for the generous funding towards the publication of the volume.