APSA Inside-Out: Researching the Inner Life of the African Peace and Security Architecture

Abstract

Collective responses to peace and security issues on the African continent have dynamically developed since 2001 when the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) – with the transition from the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to the African Union (AU) – have started translating new norms and instruments into practice. Since around 2007 these efforts are discussed in terms of an African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) in-the-making. The actors involved, the practices emerging and the narratives unfolding have been accompanied by increasing academic interest. A rich body of literature has grown. However, it still leaves open many questions.

Against this backdrop, and linking up with earlier collective stock-taking exercises (cf. Engel and Gomes Porto 2010, 2013; Karbo and Murithi 2018), in this edited volume we intend to take stock of developments in the complex and wide-ranging research field that concerns itself with African peace and security. But rather than simply updating on the state of implementation of the different pillars of APSA, we are interested in particular in critically reflecting on past methodological approaches towards the study of APSA and advancing this debate through discussing new innovative approaches. The latter try to go beyond summarizing published original sources and speculating about the reasons behind progress in the implementation of APSA or lack thereof. The lack of access to important sources (such as minutes of meetings or verbatims), that makes it very difficult to access the interests of AU member states or reconstruct decision-making processes, needs to be innovatively compensated by other means of analysis. Conceptually this volume is embedded in Global Studies and critical International Studies approaches that have developed after the end of the Cold War in response to a “crisis” of International Relations.

Biographical Note

Prof. Dr. Ulf Engel (SFB 1199 & Leipzig University)

Ulf Engel is professor of ‘Politics in Africa’ at the Institute of African Studies at Leipzig University (Germany). He is also a visiting professor at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies at Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia) and a professor extraordinary in the Department of Political Science at Stellenbosch University (South Africa).

Dr. Jens Herpolsheimer (SFB 1199)

Jens Herpolsheimer studied African Studies in Leipzig, Bordeaux, and Lisbon. Subsequently, continuing research initiated during his master’s, he worked on cooperation dynamics at the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP). Since 2016, he is a researcher at the Collaborative Research Centre (SFB 1199) “Processes of Spatialization under the Global Condition”, at Leipzig University. In this context, he has completed his PhD, focusing on intervention practices of African regional organizations and their spatializing effects. Since January 2020, Jens Herpolsheimer is a postdoctoral researcher at the SFB 1199, studying the practices of inter-regionalism between different actors at African regional organizations and the European Union. These issues reflect his more general research interests, among other things, including the politics and practices of peace and security in Africa, Lusophony, and comparative regionalism.

Dr. Katharina P.W. Döring (SFB 1199)

Döring is a researcher at the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES) at Södertörn University, Stockholm. She is part of the CBEES research project “Continentalism, Geopolitics, and the idea of ‘big-space’ political formations in comparative historical perspective”. From 2016 to 2019, Döring was part of the Collaborative Research Centre (SFB 1199) “Processes of Spatialization under the Global Condition” at Leipzig University, where she explored the value of a space-sensitive perspective for understanding the responses of the African Union and ECWAS towards the conflicts in Mali and the Sahel since 2012. Döring finished my PhD thesis titled “Making room for war. The spatialization of African security politics in the quest for African-led military deployment” in June 2019.

Dr. Linnea Gelot (Folke Bernadotte Academy)

Linnéa Gelot is senior researcher at FBA. At the moment, she is working on a research project called “African Union Waging Peace”. Linnéa is an associate professor in peace and development studies, she was previously employed as senior researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute and she holds a PhD from Aberystwyth University. In her research, she has explored themes such as protection of civilians and conflict management cooperation between the UN Security Council and regional organizations, such as the African Union. She has carried out field studies, professional trainings and assessments in Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Nigeria, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and South Africa.