Considering the relevance of peacebuilding within external interventions in Africa

The paper critiques the 'liberal peace paradigm' in Africa, suggesting that external peacebuilding often reinforces autocratic governance by focusing on state-building and technical capacity rather than addressing systemic inequality and patronage networks. It argues that current conflicts are driven by the collective denial of individual rights to maintain power configurations, and that peacebuilding must shift toward a rights-based approach to be effective.

• External interventions in Africa often enable autocratic governance because international partners prioritize regimes capable of rational, technocratic planning and population control over those with rights-based approaches. Examples of such partners include Ethiopia, the DRC, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and Egypt.
• There is a trend in Africa toward increased political violence and the use of elite-sponsored militia activity to shape political systems, rather than traditional civil wars aimed at overthrowing regimes.
• Peacebuilding efforts that focus on building state institutions can inadvertently provide space for illiberal practices to flourish, as coercive state powers are often turned against citizens or used for state predation.
• The 'liberal world order' is described as hypocritical because it justifies violence against individuals for collective ends and maintains a double standard where individual rights are only experienced by those with money and power.
• Common peacebuilding practices, such as supporting civil society through capacity building or implementing decentralization, are often subverted by existing patronage networks and vertical hierarchies of power.
• Future conflicts in Africa are predicted to stem from the collective denial of individual rights to maintain power, driven by inequality and patronage-based political systems that mobilize impoverished youth.

APA

Hutton, L. (2015). Considering the relevance of peacebuilding within external interventions in Africa. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper281.pdf

Chicago

Hutton, Lauren. Considering the relevance of peacebuilding within external interventions in Africa. Institute for Security Studies, 2015. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper281.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hutton |first1=Lauren |title=Considering the relevance of peacebuilding within external interventions in Africa |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=February 2015 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper281.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hutton2015considering, author = {Hutton, Lauren}, title = {{Considering the relevance of peacebuilding within external interventions in Africa}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2015}, month = feb, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper281.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }