Peace, Security and the African Peer Review Mechanism: Are the Tools Up to the Task? By Steven Gruzd. African Security Review, 2007.
The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) offers a powerful tool to improve security sector governance and security capacity in Africa. Assessments of Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda have identified conflict vulnerabilities and opportunities to improve security institutions. Improvements to APRM guidelines, panels of experts, and country submissions could further enhance the potential security and stability benefits from the process.
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The Panel of the Wise: A Comprehensive Introduction to a Critical Pillar of the African Peace and Security Architecture. By Jamila El Abdellaoui. Institute for Security Studies, August 2009.
A Panel of the Wise comprised of five elder African statesmen was created by the African Union to independently facilitate conflict resolution, conduct shuttle diplomacy, and develop proposals to enhance general security and stability. Adjustments to the panel’s communications strategy and engagement with civil society may further elevate its impact on conflict prevention and stabilization.
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The Role of SADC in Managing Political Crisis and Conflict: The Cases of Madagascar and Zimbabwe. By Gavin Cawthra. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2010.
Whereas the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for years refrained from intervening in various political crises in Zimbabwe, the regional economic community more quickly and effectively responded to recent instability in Madgascar. SADC’s overall influence and ability to resolve these and other regional challenges will require institutionalized crisis response mechanisms as current ad hoc efforts diminish its credibility, unity, and range of options.
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The new French defense policy in Africa: A break in the continuity? By Emmanuel Dupuy. Réseau Francophone de Recherche sur les Opérations de Paix, 2010.
About 8,000 French soldiers are present in Africa and 600 million Euros are spent each year by France for peace operations which demonstrate its commitment to stability in the continent. However, multilateral partnerships based on shared interests define new style of French engagement. Although the Franco-African relations have been redefined, coordination with the EU and the United States, China and other actors on the continent still needs some improvements.
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Ghana’s Foreign Policy and Transnational Security Challenges in West Africa. By Prosper Nii Nortey Addo. Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 2008.
Focuses on Ghana’s security culture as reflected in its foreign policy, and how it has influenced the way the country addresses transnational security challenges in ECOWAS.
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Indo – African Defence Cooperation: Need For Enhanced Thrust. By Arvind Dutta. Institute for Defense Studies & Analysis, 2008.
India has a growing relationship with Africa and enhanced military-to-military exchange can further improve these ties to mutual benefit. Given shared security interests and the value of greater South-South cooperation, India can enhance its current relationship with Africa by helping to fill capacity-building gaps toward a more constructive engagement.
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China’s Next Security Strategy for Africa. By Jonathan Holslag. Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies, 2008.
An excellent overview of China’s security policy based on research undertaken in China and several sub-Saharan African countries.
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U.S. Foreign Assistance and Trade Policies in Africa. By Princeton Lyman. Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2009.
Excellent review of the challenges of U.S. foreign assistance in Africa. Assesses policy options, competing priorities, and potential pitfalls of organizational reform. Calls for the establishment of an agreed upon conceptual framework on USG efforts to enhance the development-security linkage, which in turn can drive any restructuring. More generally, the piece challenges U.S. foreign policymakers to assess what they are hoping to achieve through US foreign assistance programs.
China’s African Aid: Transatlantic Challenges. By Deborah Brautigam. The German Marshall Fund of the United States, 2008.
China’s growing assistance and loans in Africa have often been interpreted as a strategic effort to gain diplomatic leverage and secure proprietary access to natural resources. Yet China distributes aid widely across the continent, not just to resource-rich countries suggesting a more complex Chinese engagement in Africa and a still-evolving aid policy.
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India’s Expanding Relations with the Africa and Their Implications for U.S. Interests. By J. Peter Pham. American Foreign Policy Interests, 2007.
A brief history of India-Africa relations, followed by India’s current interests on the continent, especially with regards to military cooperation and natural resources.
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