1st Edition
Supranational Institutions and Peacebuilding in Africa The African Union and Regional Economic Communities
This book analyses the role of the African Union and regional economic communities in contributing to peacebuilding in Africa. Big and small conflicts rage across the African continent, and this book argues that the African Union and the five regional economic communities have the potential to greatly contribute to peace and peacebuilding In Africa.
Looking across the African Union and the five regional economic communities (the AMU, ECCAS, ECOWAS, IGAD, and SADC), the book considers in detail the organizations’ programmes, engagement, endeavours, success and failure of activities of peacebuilding in their respective regions. Overall, the book argues that an institutionalised and formalised relationship between the African Union and the regional economic communities would not only be decisive for the prospects for peace in the region but would also serve to strengthen the continent’s role on the global stage through asserting its agency, owning its agenda, and designing its own solutions and mechanisms for addressing problems.
Drawing together an international team of prominent experts, this book will be of interest to researchers, policymakers, NGOs, activists, and regional and international actors working on African politics, security, governance, and economics.
Chapter One
Introduction: Synthesising AU-RECs Linkages in the Context of Peacebuilding in Africa?
Redie Bereketeab
PART I: AU, RECs AND PEACEBUILDINGING IN AFRICA: THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL DISCUSSION
Chapter Two
AU and RECs: An Alchemy of Theoretical and Conceptual Debases on Peacebuilding
M A Mohamed Salih
Chapter Three
Academic Knowledge Production on AU/RECs Peacebuilding
Ulf Engel
PART II: AMU AND PEACEBUILDING IN THE ARAB MAGHREB REGION
Chapter Four
The Arab Maghreb Union: An Illusory Dream?
Yahia H. Zoubir
Chapter Five
The Arab Maghreb Union Still Lagging Behind in Peacebuilding in Africa
Laeed Zaghlami
Part III: ECCAS AND PEACEBUILDING IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REGION
Chapter Six
Assessing ECCAS’s Peacebuilding Initiative in the Central African Sub-Region: From Where to Where
Tazoacha Francis
Chapter Seven
ECCAS in Peacebuilding in Central Africa
Paul Batibonak
PART IV: ECOWAS AND PEACEBUILDING IN THE WEST AFRICAN REGION
Chapter Eight
ECOWAS and Peacebuilding in the West African Region
Remi Ajibewa and Daniel Oduyingbo
Chapter Nine
Democracy as a Peacebuilding Tool in West Africa: In Search of Holistic ECOWAS Response to Coup Resurgence
Ndubuisi Christian Ani
PART V: IGAD AND PEACEBUILDING IN THE GREATER HORN REGION
Chapter Ten
The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Peacebuilding in the Horn of Africa: Programmes, Opportunities, Challenges and Prospects
Kizito Sabala
Chapter Eleven
Peacebuilding in IGAD Region: Between Policy and Practice
Aleu Garang
PART VI: SADC AND PEACEBUILDING IN SOUTHERN AFRICAN REGION
Chapter Twelve
SADC and Peacebuilding in the Southern African Region
J, Shola Omotola
Chapter Thirteen
Towards an Integrative Regional Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Infrastructure in the SADC Region: A Policy Proposition
Adane Ghebremeskel and Sheuneni Kurasha
Biography
Redie Bereketeab, PhD, is associate professor of sociology. Currently he works as senior researcher at the Nordica Africa Institute. He run a research project on conflict and state building in the Horn of Africa. His latest publications include National Liberation Movements as Government in Africa (2019), Alternatives to Neoliberal Peacebuilding and Statebuilding in Africa (2021), Historical Sociology of Nation formation in the Horn of Africa (2023), Recent Developments in Peace and Security in the Horn of Africa (2023). His research interests expand across political sociology, development sociology, African studies, conflict, peacebuilding, regional integration, RECs, nation formation, state formation. ORCID: 0000-0002-4378-1893
The importance of an effective supranational peace and security framework for the African continent cannot be underestimated. This book not only unpacks the problems of achieving this goal but, more importantly, offers nuanced suggestions for ensuring that regional institutions are well equipped to deal with Africa's hydra-headed security challenges. It is an important addition to the body of knowledge in this area.
Babatunde Fagbayibo, Professor of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa
As African Regional Economic Communities (RECs) assume roles beyond their traditional economic integration mandates, we need to understand how they are managing these roles alongside the African Union (AU). Redie Bereketeab's book Supranational Institutions and Peacebuilding in Africa: The African Union and Regional Economic Communities is one of the first to provide an in-depth analysis of peacebuilding initiatives by five RECs. Apart from two chapters devoted to each of the RECs, the introductory chapters provide useful insights into the AU and peacebuilding in Africa. This is a vital contribution to understanding the debates on African regional institutions and peacbuilding. It should find a wide policy and academic audience.
Gilbert M. Khadiagala, Jan Smuts Professor of International Relations and Director of the Centre for the Study of the United States (ACSUS) at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
For so long, African statebuilding academic and policy debates have been in search for analytical and theoretical frameworks suited to the African Union (AU) and Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Redie Bereketeab and his colleagues endeavored to answer the pertinent question: what is the praxis or theory of practice guiding Africa’s supranational institutions in peace operations and stastebuilding?
Dr. Abdalla Hamdok, former Deputy Executive Secretary for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and Sudan Prime Minister during (2019-2022).
With Supranational Institutions and Peacebuilding in Africa, Redie Bereketeab and his collaborators have made an important contribution to the literature on international peacebuilding. The focus on the activities of the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities leads to an even-handed assessment of peacebuilding efforts in Africa, which is highly relevant both from an academic and a policy-making perspective.
Wil Hout, Professor of Governance and International Political Economy, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
