Peace and Security Council Report No 40
This month our researchers in Addis Ababa, Dakar and Pretoria, as well as Réseau de Recherche sur les Opérations de Paix (ROP) researchers in Montréal, Canada, have produced country analyses on Madagascar and Mali, and retrospective articles on terrorism, the AU civilian standby roster and the Pan African Parliament.
With regard to Madagascar, the analyst focuses on the continuing stalemate regarding the holding of elections and the failure to fully implement the SADC-approved roadmap. Disagreement and division within the armed forces and the personal animosity and antagonism between President Rajoelina and deposed President Ravalomanana contribute to Madagascar’s instability and political paralysis. Much depends on the elections scheduled for 8 May 2013 and whether or not Ravalomanana is allowed to participate. On the subject of Mali, the analyst focuses on recent developments on Resolution 2071 and the adoption by the PSC on 24 November of the strategic concept for the resolution of the crisis in Mali. Although the international community has confirmed its engagement on Mali and reiterated its expectations towards the Malian authorities and towards ECOWAS, several questions still need to be answered about the envisaged response mechanisms and the role of the various actors. There is still much to be done in terms of strengthening the Malian defence and security forces, the development of a plan to manage the crisis in the north and the implementation of preliminary measures for holding the elections.
The retrospective article on terrorism in Africa focuses on the activities of Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and the continuing threat posed by their alliance with one another and their affiliation to Al-Qaeda proper. The analyst looks at the AU’s response to the terrorist threat and concludes that the AU could do far more, particularly as the continental peace and security architecture currently lacks mechanisms to effectively fight the terrorism threat. The second retrospective article in the November edition focuses on the increasing use of civilians in the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). The analyst highlights the advantages of the AU civilian standby roster, particularly in adding greater flexibility of action and availability of expertise, in complementing traditional recruitment processes in quick response situations.
As may sometimes happen, unforeseen circumstances this month resulted in an unexpected shortage of some of our planned content. Therefore, we have repeated a retrospective article about the Pan African Parliament, with some updated content that previously appeared in our March edition.
Duke Kent-Brown (Editor)
