• Approaches to conflict prevention

Approaches to conflict prevention

This book gives a review of the African States faced with conflicts and armed rebellions. It suggests that the spread of arms and the resulting armed violence undermine good governance in Africa more than any other continent. It also gives details of the instruments that have been formed towards a regional approach to tackling the scourge of small arms proliferation.

The authors point out that despite a drop in the number of African countries involved in conflict, Africa’s history of colonisation and the absence of democratic governance have led the continent down a path of civil wars, genocides and other forms of violence.

The book offers a series of wide-ranging articles which focus on African security. These include:

• The role of the UN forces in African states that have been faced with armed conflicts and rebellions
  
• The use of force by the UN peacekeeping against militias and other armed groups operating in complex conflict environments
  
• An assesssment of the Darfur conflict within the framework of the African Union's conflict resolution and peacekeeping mission
  
• Peacekeeping and peace enforcement in Africa. This article gives details of how the United Nations Emergency Peace Service could have helped to overcome some of the practical and political obstacles faced by the UN Assistance Mission in the Rwanda genocide, and the AU Mission in Sudan and UN support packages in Darfur
  
• Exploring the fast changing environment in the eastern DRC.

One high-level conclusion is that Africa must do everything possible at the continental level to minimise conflicts or be in a position to contain emerging ones with little intervention from the international community.

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