Mission without end – Peacekeeping in the African political marketplace by Alex De Waal, Summary (original) (raw)

Rentier peacekeeping in neo-patrimonial systems: the examples of Burundi and Kenya

International peacekeeping in Africa has developed dynamically in the last decade. The majority of global missions are deployed to the continent, the largest regional contingent of troops comes from Africa, and the African Peace and Security Architecture has made significant progress. Peacekeeping is Africanized today more than at any time before. However, mainstream research has insufficiently paid attention to African agency in this context. This article sheds light on the often neglected influence of African politics on international peacekeeping missions. The focus is set on the consequences of neo-patrimonial political systems, which can use international peacekeeping missions as an opportunity to generate rents. It will be shown that such a rent-seeking approach is highly problematic for the troop-contributing as well as mission-hosting countries. Instead of curbing conflict, rentier peacekeeping is prolonging and exporting it. The empirical examples used are the Burundian and Kenyan involvement in peacekeeping in Somalia.

Contested transitions: International drawdown and the future state in Afghanistan

At the end of 2014, when the bulk of foreign military forces are projected to withdraw, the international coalition will have been in Afghanistan for over 12 years. At its peak there were more than 130,000 foreign troops in the country, with the international community incurring an annual cost of over $100 billion. This deep foreign footprint is set to become lighter over the coming years, although the international presence in the country is sure to remain significant in various ways. This paper examines the stability and fragility of the contemporary Afghan state during the coming period of transition. Rooted in a close analysis of the last troubled decade of international intervention, the paper explores the paradoxical attempts to build peace whilst waging war. It assesses the ways in which a brittle and exclusive political settlement was constructed, the wayward efforts at central state building in Kabul, and the perpetuation of the country’s entrenched patterns of conflict and insurgency. Given the coming changes in international engagement, as well the likely effects of the foreign military drawdown on Afghanistan’s political settlement, the paper ends by considering four scenarios for the future of the Afghan state, ranging along a continuum from an optimistic liberal and developmental scenario at one end, to a regionalised civil-war at the other. The evidence at present points to one, or a combination, of the two intermediate scenarios, these being consolidated oligarchy and “durable disorder”.

A Theory of Change for Violent Political Marketplaces

2020

In political systems that we identify as ‘violent political marketplaces’, policy priorities for democracy activists and external actors include ending armed conflict, building governance institutions in a postconflict setting, reforming the security sector, and promoting democracy and/or justice. How can policymakers and activists formulate evidence-based theories of change to help guide them in the pursuit of these goals? This question is the focus of this memorandum.

Violence and Fragmentation in Congo’s Political Marketplace

LSE CPR working paper, 2021

Over thirty years of conflict in eastern Congo have been marked by a deepening of the role of violence in politics as well as a progressive fragmentation of the landscape of armed groups. Deepening insecurity in eastern Congo coincides with competition over political power on the national level between the political networks around Felix Tshisekedi and Joseph Kabila. This report explores the relations between political dynamics on the national level and in the east, analyzing the historical evolution and properties of the Congo’s political economy of conflict and testing a political marketplace lens—an approach that foregrounds how the conduct of elites mirrors that of firms competing in a marketplace.