Africa Center for Strategic Studies

• Peace and Power Sharing in Africa: A Not So Obvious Relationship

  Peace and Power Sharing in Africa: A Not So Obvious Relationship. By Andreas Mehler. African Affairs, 2009. The author analyzes two country cases of peace agreements (Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire) and one post-election crisis settlement (Kenya), all of which involved power sharing arrangements, and concludes that they cannot provide sustainable solutions to all relevant aspects of complex crisis situations, particularly those beyond a confined elite focus. He contends that only a “bottom up” approach of intensely debated and transitional power-sharing arrangements provide the expected beneficial effects. [HTML]

• ‘Negotiating with Ghosts’: Religion, Conflict and Peace in Northern Uganda

  ‘Negotiating with Ghosts’: Religion, Conflict and Peace in Northern Uganda. By Paul Jackson. The Round Table, 2009. This article outlines the current situation with regard to the Lord’s Resistance Army, the possibilities for peace in Northern Uganda, and the role of traditional justice systems and the ICC in ending the war. It concludes that justice in Northern Uganda requires an end to the false dichotomy of ‘traditional’ and ICC approaches and that the two must complement each other in order to address the different groups within the LRA and the Acholi population. [HTML]

• African Solutions to an International Problem: Arms Control and Disarmament in Africa

  African Solutions to an International Problem: Arms Control and Disarmament in Africa. By Guy Lamb and Dominique Dye. Journal of International Affairs, 2009. The article argues that small arms and light weapons (SALW) are the primary instruments of war in Africa today making the control of SALW trafficking a key component to African security.

• ‘Negotiating with Ghosts’: Religion, Conflict and Peace in Northern Uganda

  ‘Negotiating with Ghosts’: Religion, Conflict and Peace in Northern Uganda. By Paul Jackson. The Round Table, 2009. This article outlines the current situation with regard to the Lord’s Resistance Army, the possibilities for peace in Northern Uganda, and the role of traditional justice systems and the ICC in ending the war. It concludes that justice in Northern Uganda requires an end to the false dichotomy of ‘traditional’ and ICC approaches and that the two must complement each other in order to address the different groups within the LRA and the Acholi population.  [HTML]

• Burundi’s Transition: Training Leaders for Peace

  Burundi’s Transition: Training Leaders for Peace. By Howard Wolpe and Steve McDonald. Journal of Democracy, 2006. An account of the Burundi Leadership Training Program that the Woodrow Wilson Center has led since late 2002. The piece focuses on explaining the relative merits of the so-called Ngozi process, whereby representatives from various groups in conflict are brought together to engage in cooperation-building interactive exercises. Their experience may offer useful lessons for others engaged in conflict mitigation work.  [PDF]

• Small Arms and Light Weapons Among Pastoral Groups in the Kenya-Uganda Border Area.

  Small Arms and Light Weapons Among Pastoral Groups in the Kenya-Uganda Border Area. By Kennedy Agade Mkutu. African Affairs, 2006. Results of the author's research into SALWs among pastoral groups in the Kenya-Uganda border area, and the long history of their 'spiral of violence'.  [HTML]

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