Dr. Edu-Afful will give the lecture "Is UN Peacekeeping Dying?" on April 25, 2024, at 4:30 pm in Newman Library Classroom 207A.

The much-anticipated closure of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali on the last day of 2023 and the impending closure of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the end of 2024 is provoking analytical discussions at the UN headquarters in New York concerning the future of peacekeeping, especially in Africa. The pressures within the Security Council to downsize UN peace operations and do more with less coupled with the seismic geopolitical shifts has called into question renewed forward-thinking on how to keep UN practices relevant and appropriate to respond effectively to current conflicts. These development highlights a pivotal moment for the UN to explore and potentially alternatives to traditional blue helmet operations. The evolving landscape of conflicts in Africa, where most missions have been deployed, characterized by increasing global fragmentation, asymmetric warfare, and the involvement of various non-state actors, has posed significant challenges to the principles of peacekeeping. Missions such as those in Congo, Central African Republic and Abyei have all shown the limitations of this form of intervention. With the waning belief in the liberal world order, which has historically been a driving force behind peacekeeping efforts, there is an urgent necessity to reassess and adapt peacekeeping strategies. So, what should the future of UN peacekeeping Operations look like?

Sponsored by CLAHS Global Initiatives and Engagement, Department of History, Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention.

Moderated by Farida Jalalzai, Associate Dean of Global Initiatives and Engagement, CLAHS

Dr. Edu-Afful is currently a Visiting Scholar-In-Residence at American University and University of Maryland. He holds a PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies. He was a Global Fellow of the Geneva Centre of Security Policy (GCSP), a 2013 laureate for the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and a Winner of the Inaugural Peace Studies Section-Lynne Rienner Publishers Global South Travel Grant. As senior research fellow, he supported the Centre to successfully organise a number of activities with ECOWAS and the United Nations. He was a key facilitator in the Civilian Working Group meetings with ECOWAS, Conference with Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative, and the maiden meeting in New York with the Permanent Representatives of Ghana, Norway, United Kingdom, International Peace Institute and Wilton Park. He facilitated the establishment of the Joint GCSP-KAIPTC Women Leadership Course in Ghana, the selection of the KAIPTC as one of the research Institutions for the Elsie Initiative field exercise and also proposed a Memorandum of Understanding between the GNPC and the Faculty of Academic Affairs.

Questions can be sent to Farida Jalalzai at fjalalzai@vt.edu.