Complex Emergencies the 21st Century: Challenges of next Africa's Strategic Peace and Security Policy Issues

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) is a leading African human security research institution which works towards a stable and peaceful Africa characterised by sustainable development, human rights, the rule of law, democracy and collaborative efforts. With offices in South Africa (Pretoria and Cape Town), Ethiopia (Addis Ababa) and Kenya (Nairobi), the mission of the ISS is to conceptualise, inform the debate on human security in Africa, in order to support policy formulation and decision-making at every level towards the enhancement of human security for all in Africa. Since the demise of the Cold War, first the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and, foremost the African Union, has been preoccupied with policy approaches and institutionalisation to promote peoples' security in Africa. In light of the new paradigm of complex humanitarian emergencies, arising from devastating violent armed conflicts, especially within, but also between states, the African Union has since its transformation in 2002 from the OAU, been more proactive in establishing there new architecture and infrastructure for prompt and effective responses to violent armed conflicts, and their resolution and management. In addition to peace building, the Union's efforts in this regard have included the establishment of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) and the African Standby Force (ASF), as well as engagements within the international community, especially in the area of mobilisation of financial resources to support regional peace implementation. Given the enormity of New Africa's security realities and challenges, and the vital importance of its undertakings, particularly in the area of peace support intervention, there is a logical and rational demand for collaboration with the widest range of stakeholders, certainly including African policy research institutions, to complement these regional and international efforts. From a research perspective, such engagement provides an opportunity to examine the key issues that inform New Africa's peace and security challenges in the 21st Century and whether the emerging division of responsibilities between the continent and its partners within the international community is a rational and sustainable one.