Innovations in 'African solutions to African problems': the evolving practice of regional peacekeeping in sub-Saharan Africa

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Periodical article

Title:	Innovations in 'African solutions to African problems': the evolving practice of regional peacekeeping in sub-Saharan Africa
Author:	Coleman, Katharina P.
Year:	2011
Periodical:	Journal of Modern African Studies (ISSN 0022-278X)
Volume:	49
Issue:	4
Pages:	517-545
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Subsaharan Africa
Subjects:	peacekeeping operations regionalism UN
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/41474945
Abstract:	Three critical trends in the evolving practice of regional peacekeeping in sub-Saharan Africa have undermined the usefulness of the common conceptual dichotomy between regional peacekeeping and UN/global peacekeeping. First, sub-Saharan African States have distanced themselves from long-term autonomous regional peacekeeping, and currently favour explicitly interim missions that are a prelude rather than an alternative to UN peacekeeping. Second, the analytically clear line between regional peacekeeping and the separate sub-Saharan African tradition of solidarity deployments (i.e. military support of embattled governments) has in practice become blurred, and the regional vs global peacekeeping dichotomy not only fails to acknowledge this trend but helps to obscure it. Finally, sub-Saharan African States are increasingly addressing regional conflicts by participating in UN operations deployed in the region. UN peacekeeping has thus emerged as a preferred form of regional peacekeeping in sub-Saharan Africa. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]