African Peacekeeping

Description

Exploring the story of Africa's contemporary history and politics through the lens of peacekeeping, this concise and accessible book, based on over a decade of research across ten countries, focuses not on peacekeeping in Africa but, rather, peacekeeping by Africans. Going beyond the question of why post-conflict states contribute troops to peacekeeping efforts, Jonathan Fisher and Nina Wilen demonstrate how peacekeeping is - and has been - weaved into Africa's national, regional and international politics more broadly, as well as what implications this has for how we should understand the continent, its history and its politics. In doing so, and drawing on fieldwork undertaken in every region of the continent, Fisher and Wilen explain how profoundly this involvement in peacekeeping has shaped contemporary Africa.

Jonathan Fisher is Professor of Global Security at the University of Birmingham and was a Fellow of the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, 2019-2020. Co-Editor of Civil Wars since 2017, he is the author of East Africa after Liberation: Conflict, Security and the State since the 1980s (2020). His research focuses on the relationships between authoritarianism and (in)security. Nina Wilen is Director of the Africa Programme at Egmont Institute and Associate Professor in Political Science at Lund University. She is the author of Justifying Interventions: (De)Stabilising Sovereignty (2012) and Editor-in Chief of International Peacekeeping. Her research focuses on peacekeeping, military interventions and gender.

'This perceptive and innovative account provides vital insights into an important and under-researched aspect of peacekeeping: why and how African states became hosts of peacekeeping missions and at the same time providers of peacekeepers. In short, what has peacekeeping meant for the continent broadly speaking? With their deep understanding of peacekeeping, African politics and history, Fisher and Wilen are perfectly positioned to answer this question. They have crafted a book that is essential reading for anyone who is interested in contemporary peacekeeping, especially those who want to go to a deeper level than narrowly understand the impact of missions as they deploy.' Peter Albrecht, Danish Institute for International Studies 'African Peacekeeping is a well-researched and innovatively written book providing critical analysis on peacekeeping by Africans. Wilen and Fisher delve into pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial African histories to provide a fascinating perspective on how peacekeeping is weaved into national, regional and international politics. What readers get from African Peacekeeping goes beyond the obvious, to the subject of the African state, dovetailing critically into the continent and its politics. Compelling reading from start to finish!' Emma Birikorang, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre 'This is a comprehensive and historically rich account of African peacekeeping that will make a lasting contribution to scholarship. What sets this book apart from others on the market is the careful comparative analysis of the key roles that contributions to African-led peace operations play in the foreign policymaking of African states. This deepens our understanding of how, over time, African actors' importance to peacekeeping has also translated into strengthened international relationships and more leverage in global policymaking. Read this compelling and lucid overview, and you will have gained a very good grasp of the global and evolving practice of peacekeeping.' Linnea Gelot, Folke Bernadotte Academy