The African Union’s Peace and Security Architecture—from Aspiration to Operationalization

About the Book

Africa in World Politics focuses on challenges African states face in constructing viable political economies in the face of familiar domestic challenges and an unprecedented mix of engagements, opportunities, and threats emanating from a turbulent and rapidly changing international order.

The sixth edition includes two new chapters, one on Nigeria and Boko Haram and a second on the influence of party politics on economic development. Revised chapters consider both the extent and the limits of continued healthy growth rates in many countries; the impacts of investments by China and other BRICS countries; plateaus and reversals in progress on human rights and democratization; dimensions of chronic state weakness deepened by insurgencies, including those connected to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State; and peacebuilding efforts struggling to uphold responsible sovereignty in the Sudan, the Great Lakes region, and elsewhere. Fully updated throughout, this text remains an invaluable resource for students of African politics seeking to navigate the continent’s complex political and economic landscapes.

Information & image source: Westview Press, Link (24 July 2017)

Biographical Note

Prof. Dr. Ulf Engel (SFB 1199 & Institute of African Studies, Leipzig University, Germany)
Trained as a political scientist, Ulf Engel is a professor at the Institute of African Studies in Leipzig. He is the director of the DFG-funded PhD Research Training Programme (GK 1261): “Critical Junctures of Globalization” (2006–2016), the co-director of the DFG Priority Programme (SPP 1448): “Adaptation and Creativity in Africa” (2011–2017), and the director of the Integrated Research Training Group of the DFG Collaborative Research Centre (SFB 1199): “Processes of Spatialization under the Global Condition”. Engel is also a visiting professor at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies at Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia), a professor extraordinary in the Department of Political Science at Stellenbosch University, and a fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Studies (STIAS, South Africa).