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How do international organizations (IOs) and their proponents claim legitimacy, and how do their opponents undermine such legitimacy? This article develops a framework that accounts for the links between legitimation and delegitimation strategies and how they regularly produce ‘legitimation struggles’. Drawing on the case of the African Union between 2015–2020, the study goes beyond existing research in three ways. First, legitimation struggles are not simply related to input and output legitimacy but are deeply related to the social purpose of the organization. Second, legitimation struggles do not only involve IO representatives and member-states but are strengthened by a range of other non-state agents. Third, while discursive strategies are essential, legitimation struggles are reinforced when they are combined with behavioural or institutional legitimation strategies. Future research would do well to go beyond the current Western-centric bias and draw on our findings to investigate legitimation struggles under different conditions around the world.

Academic Literacies elucidates how undergraduate students with diverse skillsets can effectively engage with socially constructed and discipline-specific knowledge(s) through writing. Over the last two decades, language specialists and education researchers have developed a robust, student-focused epistemology. However, it remains unclear how lecturers understand and teach Academic Literacies in their courses. This article shifts the focus by exploring how we – a teaching team in International Relations at a Swedish university – translated the knowledge claims and ideological commitments of Academic Literacies into an applied pedagogy. We employ collaborative, reflective practice to investigate how we progressively integrated Academic Literacies in an introductory, bachelor’s level course from 2010–2019. Specifically, we illustrate how we used formative feedback, peer assessment, and reflective journaling to teach International Relations through academic writing. We conclude with a discussion of the best practices and unresolved challenges of our evolving pedagogical design.

This paper explores community perceptions about traditional authorities’ roles during the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) of former combatants. We have selected the case of Somalia, where both government institutions and traditional authorities have partnered with international actors and institutions, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), to prevent and counter violent extremism (P/CVE). International actors have related to traditional authorities based on the assumption that these actors wield a kind of social power that facilitates the reintegration of former members of the violent extremist organisation al-Shabaab. Based on mixed methodology research we explain social reintegration in Somalia from the community perspective, and find that P/CVE programmes are expressive of co-optation of traditional authorities. We make the case that ‘risk coping’ helps explain why a majority of civilians prefer the government-led formal reintegration pathway of ex-combatants to the traditional authorities pathway. We conclude by discussing the implications that this has for NGOs/INGOs active in this P/CVE sector.

IN THIS BRIEF, we investigate what forms of protection of civilians (PoC) provided bypeacekeepers that enjoy more support thanothers. We compare peacekeepers’ perceived level of proactive engagement, with the expectations and demands from local populations. We find that civilians who are at risk prefer peacekeepers who show resolve in protecting civilians, and their support is based on assessments of robustness.

Ce volume édité offre des nouvelles perspectives sur la vie intérieure de l'Architecture africaine de paix et de sécurité (APSA) et présente aux spécialistes dand la domaine paix et securité africaine des approches épistémologiques, conceptuelles et méthodologiques innovantes. Basé sur une ouverture intellectuelle et un intérêt pour les perspectives transdisciplinaires, le volume remet en question les courants dominants, nous invitant à réfléchir sur les pratiques de recherche elles-mêmes. S'appuyant sur les perspectives des études globales et des études critiques internationales, les auteurs suivent des approches inductives et laissent les données empiriques enrichir leurs cadres théoriques et leurs outils conceptuels. Dans cette entreprise, ils se concentrent sur les acteurs, les pratiques et les discours impliqués qui donne forme aux institutions regionales. Les analyses ici-présentes examine les hypothèses qui informent habituellement les études sur le régionalisme et la gouvernance en Afrique.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of what the UN itself understands to be its first peacekeeping operation. It is therefore an appropriate time to reflect on the track record of UN peacekeeping in its efforts to try to maintain and realize peace and security. Moreover, this milestone invites us to ponder what lies ahead in the realm of peacekeeping. For this reason, this forum article brings together both academics and UN officials to assess the achievements and challenges of UN peacekeeping over the past 75 years. Through a dialogue among peacekeeping scholars and practitioners, we hope to identify current trends and developments in UN peacekeeping, as well as explore priorities for the future to improve the effectiveness of peacekeeping operations in terms of achieving their mandate objectives, such as maintaining peace, protecting civilians, promoting human rights, and facilitating reconciliation. This forum article is structured into six thematic sections, each shedding light on various aspects of UN peacekeeping: (1) foundational principles of UN peacekeeping - namely, consent, impartiality, and the (non-)use of force; (2) protection of civilians; (3) the primacy of politics; (4) early warning; (5) cooperation with regional organizations; and (6) the changing geopolitical landscape in which UN peacekeeping operates.

The main objective of this report is to analyse the key trends that are leading to changes in the African conflict prevention and management landscape. The report discusses four major trends in order to report on much-needed adjustments to external donor engagements with their conflict prevention and peace-making African partners.