An Arab springboard for EU foreign policy?
The EU has not been perceived as reacting very rapidly or effectively to the socalled Arab Spring. Events do validate the underpinning idea of the European Security Strategy and the […]
Africa
As a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we are seeing a renewed Global Powers competition and an increasingly acute energy crisis. These developments have put the African continent centre stage again in international relations. Understanding how political and security developments within Africa shape the continent, as well as its position on the international scene, is a core objective of the Africa Programme.
In line with this aim, we contribute to increased knowledge and shape policy debates on, and in, Africa by organising expert seminars and providing in-depth research on: military interventions and security collaborations; the politics of elections; peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts; the political economy of mining, and the development of women, peace and the security agenda, with a particular focus on the Great Lakes and the Sahel region.
Drawing on our own expertise, as well as a wide network of national and international research institutes, public authorities, and NGOs, makes the Africa Programme a central authority on matters related to Africa on a national, regional and global level.
Publications
Obama takes on the LRA. Why Washington sent troops to Central Africa
Two events underlie the renewed interest. First, in October, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that he would be sending “combat-equipped troops” on a kill-or-capture mission to take out Kony in […]
African dynamics at the climate change negotiations
The climate change negotiations in Cancun saved the multilateral negotiation process under the UNFCCC, but what were the African political dynamics at the negotiations? In this Africa policy brief the […]
Books
Diamonds, rice, and a ‘maggi cube’. Artisanal diamond mining and livelihoods in Liberia
Diamond, Rice, and a “Maggi Cube” represents the conclusions of the second phase of the Egmont Artisanal Diamond Mining Project, which ran from 2009 until mid-2011 and was funded by […]
Climate change and conflict in sub-Saharan Africa: the mother of all problems?
The impact of climate change is increasingly explained as one of the most serious security threats of the future and a far greater threat to the world’s stability than international […]
External publications
Local initiatives of community-based security in the Democratic Republic of Congo
A critical assessment with case studies from Afghanistan, DR Congo and Kosovo. in Michael Brzoska, Hans-Georg Ehrhart and Jens Narten (Eds), Multi-Stakeholder Security Partnerships. A critical assessment with case studies […]