African Peacekeeping Training Centres ― Socialisation As a Tool for Peace?

Peacekeeping training centres play a crucial role in preparing peacekeepers for their deployment. However, despite their popularity within the international community as a tool for achieving international security, development and statebuilding objectives, they have not received a great deal of analysis or academic attention. This book provides an in-depth analysis of peacekeeping training in Africa, tracing how centres have adapted to the operational and normative changes of peace operations over time, and raising questions about the expectations attached to these training efforts and their impact.

The book examines training content and methods in detail, exploring the potential of peacekeeping training centres as sites for socialisation and diffusing international norms in an effort to change and shape peacekeepers' behaviour. The analysis is based on two contrasting case studies, selected to show the spectrum of training centres operating in Africa, namely the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, Ghana and the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes in Durban, South Africa.

At a time when impact is being determined by the number of course attendees, this book provides an important critical assesment of training efforts and what they are supposed to achieve. It will be of interest to scholars and practitioners within the fields of international security, peacekeeping, and African development.

Anne Flaspoler is a Senior Researcher at the EDDA Research Center and a Course Coordinator at the United Nations University Gender Equality and Studies Programme (UNU-GEST), University of Iceland.