Volume 9 Number 1

This research paper examines the shift in Africa's strategic relevance following the Cold War, arguing that the decline of superpower competition has left African states more fragile and prone to regional conflicts. It advocates for a transition from traditional deterrence to a 'collaborative security' model based on reassurance, transparency, and domestic stability, while cautioning against donor efforts to capacitate weak, undemocratic states to provide regional peacekeeping.

• Since the end of the Cold War, Africa has lost its global strategic relevance, and regional conflicts are now more likely to remain regional without impacting global security, except in areas with exploitable natural resources.
• Frustration with the United Nations' perceived differential treatment of conflicts—specifically comparing Kosovo and East Timor to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, Rwanda, and the DRC—has led to a shift toward regional security arrangements and peacekeeping forces supported by donors and subregional organisations like ECOWAS and SADC.
• The primary strategic challenge for African states is not deterrence but 'reassurance,' which requires normative and institutional structures focusing on transparency, confidence-building, and domestic security rather than collective defense or the role of armed forces.
• There is a risk that donor efforts to capacitate weak, undemocratic states to provide regional security may lead to unintended consequences, such as increasing external interference and the diversion of scarce resources toward non-domestic security agencies.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). Volume 9 Number 1. https://issafrica.org/research/african-security-review/volume-9-number-1

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Volume 9 Number 1. n.d. https://issafrica.org/research/african-security-review/volume-9-number-1.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Volume 9 Number 1 |url=https://issafrica.org/research/african-security-review/volume-9-number-1 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesndvolume, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Volume 9 Number 1}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.org/research/african-security-review/volume-9-number-1}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }