Navigating Governance, Peace, and Conflict in Africa

This edited book examines the link between peace or violent conflict and the practice of governance in African states. Exploring the historical roots of today's African challenges, the chapters explore the sources of legitimacy in African states and help to clarify how a strengthened social contract can be built in societies facing the fact or threat of conflict. The volume includes a variety of case study examples to illustrate the performance of states on topics such as including women, youth, and civil society, on coping with the challenge of extremism, on respecting the potential contributions of traditional authorities, and on delivering key governance outputs such as the rule of law and delivering essential services. Some chapters explore the trajectory of conflict management initiatives led from within Africa by regional and sub-regional bodies, while others give greater attention to the role of outside actors. While there have been numerous studies on conflict in Africa as well as on the impact of bad governance on specific countries, there have been few that have made the link between governance and conflict as it manifests across the continent. By exploring these issues in depth, this book sets an agenda for further research in the fields of conflict resolution, politics, and governance. This book will be of much interest to students and practitioners of conflict management, African politics, global governance, and International Relations.

Pamela Aall is a visiting scholar at George Mason University, Washington DC. Prior to this, she was senior advisor for conflict prevention and management and senior vice president for education and training at the U.S. Institute of Peace. She is author or editor of 14 books, including most recently, Responding to Violent Conflicts and Humanitarian Crises: A Guide to Participants (2021). Chester A. Crocker is an emeritus professor of strategic studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and senior fellow at its Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. He is author or editor of over a dozen books, including, most recently, Diplomacy and the Future of World Order (2021). Susan Stigant is deputy director at the Dialogue Advisory Group and practitioner in peace mediation. She has authored and edited policy-focused research on constitution design, powersharing and prevention of election-related violence. From 2014-2025, she served as the Africa director at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

1. Governance, Peace and Conflict: A Complex Relationship, Pamela Aall, and Chester A. Crocker 2. Putting African Governance in Context, George Moose PART I: GOVERNANCE AND CONFLICT: OVERVIEW OF THE CHALLENGES 3. Africa's Changing Landscape of Conflict, Pamela Mbabazi 4. Toward a Distinctive African Way of Governance, Hesphina Rukato 5. The Governance Roots of Africa's Conflict Challenges, Chester A. Crocker and Miriam Frost 6. Governance and Conflict Management in Africa: Hopes and Failures, I. William Zartman PART II: POLITICS AND CONFLICT 7. Linkages between Political Parties and Political Violence: Some Lessons from Kenya and South Africa, John Rabuogi Ahere 8. Elections and Political Transitions in Africa: A Critical Analysis, Melvis Ndiloseh and Robert Gerenge 9. Accountability and Conflict Resolution in Africa's Traditional Institutions of Governance, Kidane Mengisteab 10. The Emerging Influence of Women and Youth on Civic Engagement in Africa, Idayat Hassan 11. Youth and the African Union's Peace and Security Agenda, Rhuks Temitope Ako and Rafiu Adeniran Lawal PART III: THE LARGER ENVIRONMENT 12. State-Society Relations in Conflict Dynamics in Africa, Chris Fomunyoh and Sophia Moestrup 13. Social Justice: The Key to Consolidating Governance in Post-conflict Societies, Tim Murithi 14. Economic Governance and Peacebuilding in Africa, Raymond Gilpin 15. The African Union's Response to the Challenges of Governance, Khabele Matlosa 16. The Great Game: African Agency in a New Era of Global Competition, Judd Devermont PART IV: CONCLUSION 17. Unlocking Africa's Peace and Security Potential, Joseph Sany and Susan Stigant