Keeping the Peace in Africa: Why 'African'solutions are not enough
Dr Paul Williams – The George Washington University

Since the early 1990s, a variety of African and Western governments alike have often advocated finding 'African solutions to African problems' represents the best approach to keeping the peace in Africa. Not only does the empirical evidence from post-Cold War Africa suggest that there are some fundamental problems with this approach, it also rests upon some problematic normative commitments. Specifically in relation to the problem of armed conflict, the 'African solutions to African problems' is simultaneously premature, inaccurate and misguided as a basis for keeping the peace. After providing an overview of the constituent elements of the “African solutions” approach, this article sets out in general terms the central problems with it before turning to a specific illustration of how these problems affected the international responses to the ongoing war in Darfur, Sudan. Instead of searching for 'African solutions', policymakers should try to develop appropriate solutions for the complex challenges raised by the issue of armed conflict on the African continent. To this end, Western states in general and the P3 in particular should give greater support to conflict management activities undertaken by the United Nations, develop clearer guidelines for how these should relate to regional initiatives, and facilitate the efforts of civic associations to build the foundations for stable peace in the continent’s war zones.