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.