THE CHALLENGES OF PEACEKEEPING IN AFRICA: A REVISIT

Abstract

The most visible international response to Africa's armed conflicts was the proliferation of peace operations, which between 1990 and 2012 numbered more than 60, far more than in any other region. This period was also the most tumultuous in the history of peacekeeping. The operations assumed various shapes and sizes. Peacekeeping in Africa after the Cold War was a way of trying to professionalise peace operations. Since peace operations are a reflection of international society's assumptions and priorities about conflict management and resolution, tracing their evolution provides an important barometer for the involvement of international engagement in Africa's violence. This article concludes that peacekeepers in Africa are often used as a substitute for an effective political plan and that peacekeeping missions are bound by the international legal requirement of seeking consent from the host governments, even when those governments constitute problems in several African armed conflicts.