African Security Politics Redefined [Hardcover]

This book analyzes recent alterations in African security politics, focusing on regionalization of civil wars, transnational aspects of African conflicts, African regional peacekeeping efforts, the privatization of security in Africa, and the role of the UN in peacekeeping.Introduction The State in Africa Regionalized Wars: Transnationalism, Security Complexes, and African Conflicts Intergovernmental Security Political Efforts The Security Politics of the African Union United Nations Peacekeeping in Africa Why What They Say Is Not What They Do: Economic Aspects of War and the Privatization of Security in Africa Conclusions

African Security Politics Redefined makes an important contribution to the study of National Security, in general, and to the study of Africa, in particular. Using Africa as the backdrop, Dokken challenges the classical assumptions we use to understand and explain war and security. The weak state itself, rather than the classical assumption of one strong state threatening a neighbor, must be understood as the central security issue in Africa. This volume takes the facts on the ground to help rebuild our theoretical approach to Africa security, an essential task for understanding post-Cold War international security. Then, unlike most volumes dealing with theoretical or analytical categories, it leads to on-the-ground solutions for Africa's growing security challenges. - James J. Hentz, Professor and Chair of the Department of International Studies, Virginia Military Institute

KARIN DOKKEN?is?Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Oslo, Norway.