Prospects of an effective African peacekeeping capability : from rhetoric to reality

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis examines the prospects of an effective African peacekeeping capability in light ofthe developing peace and security architecture of the relatively new continental body, theAfrican Union (AU). The primary aim is to determine the nature and severity of thosechallenges that currently face the organization's ambition of realizing this Pan-Africandream. This study is a qualitative analysis that comprises both descriptive and exploratoryaspects.The thesis begins by discussing the development of peacekeeping in conflict management. Itestablishes that peacekeeping emerged as an ad hoc response by the UN to address thegrowing issue of inter-state conflict during the Cold War, but has evolved into one of theprimary tools used by the international community to manage complex crises. The advent ofnew security threats in the post-Cold War era, spurred on by the dynamic process ofglobalization, necessitated that peacekeeping adapt and is commonly perceived incontemporary discourse as a multidimensional practice. Central to this development was theshift in focus from international to human security and the recent development of theResponsibility to Protect doctrine.The study then goes on to explore the process that has ultimately led to the establishment ofthe AU's proposed peacekeeping capability, the African Standby Force (ASF). With adramatic increase in incidences of violent conflict across the globe in the 1990s, the UN'slimited resources were pushed to the limit, thus paving the way for regional organizations toplay a more important role in ensuring international peace and security. The establishment ofthe AU in 2002 was meant to put to bed the inability of its forerunner, the Organization ofAfrican Unity (OAU), which had suffered from limited financial, logistical and structuralcompetence, while its political and institutional authority was hampered by dissent and thequalified support of member states. However, as the African Union Mission in the Darfurregion of Sudan (AMIS), highlights, the AU's peacekeeping capacity is hamstrung by a lackof political will on the part of African leaders, weak institutional capacity, severe financialconstraints as well as an overly militaristic approach that neglects the essentialmultidimensional nature of peacekeeping.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University