Through a multidisciplinary approach, African Frontiers counters the superficial, Eurocentric and gender insensitive dominant discursive representation of Africa within the discourse of war and conflict management, and security and peace/nation-building. The chapters historicize and theorize the realities in postcolonial African states, and the ramifications on the continents future. Situating the study within the context of the prevailing cultural and geo-political realities in the postcolonial African states, the chapters illustrate the complex ways in which events and processes are experienced at the local level, and how these local realities in turn impact and shape the patterns of political and military engagement in Africa and beyond. Organized along three major themes: Insurgency, governance and peacebuilding, expert researchers from around the world contribute chapters on: Rebel and insurgent formations such as the RUF, the LRA, and Boko Haram; state governance and corruption; terrorism and counter terrorism; security and peacebuilding; focussing on the tensions and challenges facing post-conflict societies such as Sierra Leone, Rwanda, and the newest nation-state on the continent, South Sudan. This highly significant and topical study problematizes the impact of wars on African nations, as well as the epistemological framing of the local realities and fallouts of armed conflict on post-colonial states.

Part I Insurgency and Governance; Chapter 1 Understanding Postcolonial African Frontiers: History, Theory, Policy and Practice, John Idriss Lahai, Tanya Lyons; Chapter 2 The West African Warscapes: Rebel Factions, Insurgent Opportunism and State Governance, John Idriss Lahai, Tanya Lyons; Chapter 3 Reconsidering Rebel Governance, Isabelle Duyvesteyn, Georg Frerks, Boukje Kistemaker, Nora Stel, Niels Terpstra; Chapter 4 Embracing Neo-Liberalism in Uganda and Rwanda, Noel Twagiramungu; Chapter 5 The International Responsibility to Protect and the Conflict in Darfur, John Idriss Lahai; Chapter 6 State Collapse, Counter-Insurgency and Security Governance in Somalia, Oscar Gakuo Mwangi; Chapter 7. The paper is revised here with copyright permission., Daniel E. Agbiboa; Part II Peacebuilding; Chapter 8 Coping with Vulnerability: Civil War Avoidance in Guinea 1984-2010, Mamadou Diouma Bah; Chapter 9 Breaks with the Past: Conflict, Displacement, Resettlement and the Evolution of Forest Socio-Ecologies in Sierra Leone 1 Funding for this research was provided by the European Union and the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) through the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) support program, as well as the Promoting Agriculture, Governance and the Environment (PAGE) program sponsored by USAID, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada., Paul Munro, Greg van der Horst; Chapter 10 Arming Community Vigilantes in the Niger Delta: Implications for Peacebuilding, Kialee Nyiayaana; Chapter 11 Neo-Liberal Peacebuilding in Libya: Sketching the Path to Reconciliation, Saira Bano Orakzai; Chapter 12 Building Peace with Warlords in South Sudan: A Gendered Structure, David John Duriesmith; Chapter 13 Peacebuilding in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mbekezeli Comfort Mkhize; Chapter 14 From Insurgency to Governance and Peacebuilding: Africa's Future, John Idriss Lahai, Tanya Lyons;