Regionalisation of peacekeeping in Africa

The document examines the 'regionalisation' of peacekeeping in Africa, noting that troops from countries bordering crisis zones now constitute a significant portion of UN and AU missions. While these countries possess local knowledge, the authors argue that their involvement often prioritises national interests and 'collective defence'—the alliance against identified enemies—over the 'collective security' goal of addressing root causes. This shift is characterised by extreme militarisation and a lack of political strategy, which the authors suggest erodes the principles of impartiality and neutrality in peacekeeping.

• There is a growing trend of neighbouring countries contributing troops to United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) peace support operations (PSOs), which challenges the traditional unwritten rule of non-involvement for riparian states.
• The involvement of neighbouring states is often driven by the desire to prevent the spill-over of crises into their own territories or to defend specific national interests, which may diverge from the objectives of the UN or AU.
• Peacekeeping in Africa is shifting from a 'collective security' model, which seeks to address root causes of conflict, toward a 'collective defence' model focused on alliances against identified non-state enemies.
• The response to African crises is characterized by extreme militarisation and the identification of 'common enemies' (such as terrorist groups), but this approach is rarely supported by a comprehensive political strategy.
• Military victories over non-state armed groups are unlikely due to the political, legal, and economic constraints facing riparian troops, as well as structural weaknesses in African armies that can lead to inefficiency and brutality.
• The increased role of neighbouring countries in PSOs erodes the core peacekeeping principles of impartiality and neutrality.

APA

Handy, P.-S., & Djilo, F. (2023). Regionalisation of peacekeeping in Africa. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PB-181.pdf

Chicago

Handy, Paul-Simon, and Félicité Djilo. Regionalisation of peacekeeping in Africa. Institute for Security Studies, 2023. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PB-181.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Handy |first1=Paul-Simon |last2=Djilo |first2=Félicité |title=Regionalisation of peacekeeping in Africa |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=2023 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PB-181.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{handy2023regionalisation, author = {Handy, Paul-Simon and Djilo, Félicité}, title = {{Regionalisation of peacekeeping in Africa}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2023}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PB-181.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }