Political Economy of Regional Peacebuilding and Politics of Funding
Redie Bereketeab *
The Nordic Africa Institute, P. O. Box 1703, SE¬-75147 Uppsala, Sweden.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This article examines the political economy of regional peacebuilding programmes in the era of diminishing funding. Employing methodology of qualitative text analysis and interpretation the article analyses the politics of funding regional peacebuilding. One of the central problems of peacebuilding in Africa is its dependence on external funding. Donor, bilateral and multilateral actors and agencies fund almost all the peacebuilding processes on the continent. When Western powers divert funding to other part of the world, African peacebuilding faces veritable challenges. This dependence on external financing is increasingly subjected to scathing criticism. Post-Cold War peacebuilding involves two sets of actors: those who provide the finance and those who supply the manpower. However, the informal arrangement where regional economic communities (RECs) provide the troops, while donors and rich countries supply the funding is proving untenable. Some of the questions that the article addresses are: Why is funding for peacebuilding dwindling? Why are some peacebuilding efforts well-funded, while others are not? How is the political economy of funding peacebuilding regulated? How should the AU respond to the diminishing funds? The article argues mobilising own resources could be the way out for Africa in dealing with the convoluted and festering conflicts. It concludes the politics of funding regional peacebuilding is dictated by geostrategic interests and short-term calculations rendering it unpredictable, unsustainable and ineffective.
Keywords: Political economy, politics of funding, regional peacebuilding, African Union
How to Cite
Downloads
References
ACCORD. Reflecting on the role of the united nations peacebuilding fund in Africa. Conflict Trends. 2020;2. Available:https://www.accord.org.za. Accessed on 24-05-2024
Apuuli KP. IGAD’s mediation in the current South Sudan conflict: Prospect and challenges. African Security. 2015;8(2):120–45.
Brosig M. Cooperative Peacekeeping in Africa: Exploring regime complexity (London and New York: Routledge); 2015.
AU. Financing the Union: Towards the Financial Autonomy of the African Union; 2020. Available:https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/38739-doc- report_on_financing_of_the_union_jun_2020_002.pdf. Accessed on 28-05-2024
Adetula V, et al. Regional economic communities and peacebuilding in Africa: lessons from ECOWAS and IGAD. London and New York: Routledge; 2021.
Bereketeab, Redie. Alternatives to neoliberal peacebuilding and statebuilding in Africa. London and New York: Routledge; 2021.
Khadiagala, Gilbert M. The African Union in Peacebuilding in Africa. In Terence McNamee and Monde Muyangwa (eds), The State of Peacebuilding in Africa: Lessons Learned for Policymakers and Practitioners. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan; 2021.
Ogbonnaya Nwafor U, Ndidiamaka Joy C. Political economy of the amnesty programme for sustainable peace and development of the Niger Delta. Asian Res. J. Arts Soc. Sci. 2017;4(2):1-11. Available:https://journalarjass.com/index.php/ARJASS/article/view/81
Lee T. Political orders and peace-building: Ending the Aceh conflict. Conflict, Security and Development. 2020;20(1):115-39.
Tanabe, Juichiro. Beyond Liberal Peacebuilding: A Critic of Liberal Peacebuilding and Exploring the Postmodern Post-Liberal Hybrid Model of Peacebuilding. International Relations and Diplomacy. 2017;5(8):447-459.
Young C. The African Colonial State in Comparative Perspective. New York and London: Yale University Press; 1994.
Chabak P, Daloz J. Africa Works: Disorder as Political Instrument. Oxford, Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN: James Currey and Indiana University Press; 1999.
Levine DH, Nagar D. (eds.). Region-Building in Africa: Political and economic challenges (Cape Town and Basingstoke: Centre for Conflict Resolution and Palgrave Macmillan); 2016.
Call CT, Wyeth V. (eds.). Building States to Build Peace (Boulder and London: Lynne Rienner); 2008.
Curtis D, Gwinyayi AD. (eds). Peacebuilding, Power, and Politics in Africa (Athens: Ohio University Press); 2012.
Galtung, Johan. Theories of Peace: A Synthetic Approach to Peace Thinking. Oslo: International Peace Research Institute; 1967.
Masters J, Merrow W. How much aid has the U.S. sent ukraine? Here are six charts. Council on Foreign Relations; 2023.
Kiel Institute. Ukraine Support Tracker: A Database of Military, Financial and Humanitarian Aid to Ukraine; 2024. Available:Kiel Institute. https:7/www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker/?cookieLevel=notset&cHash=851079e7c7625db43a5c7e2568d9d9d5. Accessed on 29-05-2024
Bereketeab, Redie. Consequences of Global War on Terror in the Horn of Africa. Advance; 2024. Available:https://advance.sagepub.com/users/719171/articles/735429-consequences-of-the-global-war-on-terror-in-the-horn-of-africa-region. Accessed on 27-05-2024
Sun D, Zoubir YH. The eagle’s nest in the Horn of Africa: US military strategic deployment in Djibouti. Africa Spectrum. 2016;1:111–24.
Schmidt E. Foreign intervention in Africa after the cold war: Sovereignty, responsibility, and the war on terror (Athens: Ohio University Press); 2018.
Lecocq B, Klute G. Tuareg Separatism in Mali and Niger, in Lotje de Vries, Pierre Englebert, Mareike Schomerus (eds.), Secessionism in African Politics: Aspiration, Grievance, Performance, Disenchantment. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan; 2019.
Acho, Mannjong Callistus, Tacham, Follah Placate. Examining the Reasons for and Effects of Military Coups in West Africa since 1990: The Obstacles to Democracy and Progress. International Journal of Humanity and Social Sciences, Abdelaziz, K. 2019. Saudi Arabia, UAE to send $3 billion in Aid to Sudan, Reuters. 2019. 2023;1(2):20 – 33. Available:https://www.bing.com/search?pglt=169&q=Saudi+Arabia%2C+UAE+to+send+%243+billion+in+aid+to+Sudan&cvid=51b8859b476a4f55a44214f6b0cd06a6&aqs=edge..69i57j69i60.40503j0j1&FORM=ANNTA1&DAF0=1&PC=U531. Accessed on 15-09-2023
Young KE, Khan T. Extended states: The politics and purpose of united arab emirates economic statecraft in the horn of Africa. In Robert Mason and Simon Mabon (eds.), The Gulf State and the Horn of Africa: Interests, Influences and Instability. Manchester: Manchester University Press; 2022.
Roberts H. Who Said Gaddafi Had to GO? London Review of Books; 2011.
Ding, Long. The evolving roles of the gulf states in the horn of Africa. Asian Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies.; 2024. Available:https://doi.org/10.1080/25765949.2024.2340332. Accessed on 27-05-2024
Vanheukelom J, Desmidt S. Regional Peace Architecture in Africa: A reality check. Discussion Paper No. 249, ECDPM; 2019. Available:www.ecdpm.org/249
Muvunyi F. Somalia: AMISOM plays down EU budget cut concerns. DW; 2016. Available:https://www.dw.com/en/somalia-amisom-plays-down-eu-budget-cut-concerns/a-19293643
Associated Press (AP). Uganda threatens to pull troops from Somalia; 2012. Available:https://news.yahoo.com/uganda-threatens-pull-troops-somalia-174104437.html
Ingiriis MH. The big elephant in the room: The meddling and machination of Igad and Ethiopia in Somalia. In Victor Adetula et al (ed.), Regional Economic Communities and Peacebuilding in Africa: Lessons from ECOWAS and IGAD. London and New York: Routledge; 2021.
Menkhaus K. Somalia: Governance vs. statebuilding. In Charles T. Call and Vanessa Wyeth (eds), Building States to Build Peace (Boulder and London: Lynne Rienner); 2008.
ICG. 2023. 2024. The Security Council Agrees to Consider Funding AU Peace Operations; 2024.
World Peace Foundation. African Politics, African Peace: Report submitted to the African Union by the World Peace Foundation (Somerville, MA: Tufts University, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy); 2016.
AU. Regional Economic Communities (RECs); 2023. Available:https://au.int/en/organs/recs (accessed 24 August 2023)
Vogt M. The UN and Africa’s regional organisations: An insider’s perspective. In Tony Karbo and Kudrat Virk (eds), The Palgrave Handbook of Peacebuilding in Africa (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan); 2018
Oloniskin F. ECOWAS: From economic integration to peacebuilding. In Thomas Jaye, Dauda Garub, Stella Amadi (eds), ECOWAS and the Dynamics of Conflict and Peacebuilding (Dakar: Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa); 2011.
Adejumobi S. Region-building in West Africa. In Daniel H. Levine, Dawn Nagar (eds), Region-Building in Africa: Political and economic challenges (Cape Town and Basingstoke: Centre for Conflict Resolution and Palgrave Macmillan); 2016.
Adebajo A. Pax Nigeriana versus Pax Gallica: ECOWAS and UN peacekeeping in Mali. In Tony Karbo and Kudrat Virk (eds), The Palgrave Handbook of Peacebuilding in Africa (Cham, Switzerland, Palgrave Macmillan); 2018.
Chigozie CF, Oyinmiebi PT. Resurgence of military coups in West Africa: Implications for ECOWAS. African Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research. 2022; 5(2):52-64.
El-Affendi A. The impasse in the IGAD peace process for Sudan: The limits of regional peacemaking? African Affairs. 2001;100(401):581–99.
Bereketeab, Redie. Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD): A Critical Analysis. In Kidane Mengisteab, Redie Bereketeab (eds.), Regional Integration, Identity and Citizenship in the Greater Horn of Africa. Woodbridge and Rochester: James Currey; 2012.
Deleglise, Dimpho. Trends in SADC Mediation and Long-Term Conflict Transformation, in Terence McNamee and Monde Muyangwa (eds), The State of Peacebuilding in Africa: Lessons Learned for Policymakers and Practitioners. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan; 2021.
The Conversation. South Africa to lead new military force in the DRC: An expert on what it’s up against; 2024. Available:https://theconversation.com/south-africa-to-lead-new-military-force-in-the-drc-an-expert-on-what-its-up-against-219264. Accessed on 30-05-2024
SADC. Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation (Gaborone, Botswana); 2010a.
SADC. Brief overview of SADC’s Peace and Security Architecture. Talk delivered at the launch of the ‘Support to Peace and Security in the SADC Region’ Programme, under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF), 5 April, Gaborone, Botswana; 2019.
Kabia J. Regional approaches to peacebuilding: The ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture. Paper presented at the BISA-Africa and International Studies ESRC seminar series, African Agency in International Politics African Agency in Peace, Conflict and Intervention at the University of Birmingham; 2011.
SADC. Harmonised Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, revised edition, (Maputo, Mozambique); 2010b.
Jaiyebo O, Adetula V. Regional Economic Communities and Peacebuilding in Africa: Analysis of Legal Framework and Concerns for International Law. In Victor Adetula et al (eds.), Regional Economic Communities and Peacebuilding in Africa: Lessons from ECOWAS and IGAD. London and New York: Routledge; 2021.
Yates DA. French military intervention in Africa. In Tony Karbo and Kudrat Virk (eds), The Palgrave Handbook of Peacebuilding in Africa (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan); 2018.
Byiers B, et al. Niger’s Coup: Who Loses from ECOWAS Sanctions? EPDM;2023. Available:https://ecpdm.org/work/niders-coup-who-loses-ecowas-sanctions
Apuuli, Philip Kasaija. Uganda and the intergovernmental authority on development (IGAD)’, in Victor Adetula et al (ed.), Regional Economic Communities and Peacebuilding in Africa: Lessons from ECOWAS and IGAD. London and New York: Routledge; 2021.
Adetula V, et al. Regional Economic Communities and Peacebuilding in Africa: The experience of ECOWAS and IGAD. Policy Dialogue no. 12 (Uppsala: The Nordic Africa Institute); 2016.
Bereketeab, Redie. Forthcoming. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), in Ulf Engel, Jens Herpolsheimer and Frank Mattheis (eds.), Handbook: The Globalization Projects of Regional Organizations. Leiden: Brill
Galtung, Johan. Violence, peace, and peace research. Journal of Peace Research. 1969;6(3):167-191.
Acemoglu D, Robinson JA. Why Nations Fail: The Origin of Power, Prosperity and Poverty. London: Profile Books LTD; 2015.
Paffenholz T. Unpacking the local turn in peace-building: A critical assessment towards an agenda for future research. The World Quarterly. 2015;36(5):857-874.
Jentzsch C. The financing of international peace operations in Africa: A review of recent research and analysis. African Peacebuilding Network, APN Working Paper. 2014;(1).