Fredrik Söderbaum is Associate Professor University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Senior Associate Research Fellow at the United Nations University (UNU-CRIS).

Rodrigo Tavares is Associate Research Fellow, United Nations University (UNU-CRIS), Belgium.

1. Problematizing Regional Organizations in African Security Fredrik Söderbaum and Rodrigo Tavares 2. The African Union's New Peace and Security Architecture: Toward an Evolving Security Regime? Ulf Engel and João Gomes Porto 3. The African Union's Peace Operations: A Comparative Analysis Paul D. Williams 4. Economic Community of West African States on the Ground: Comparing Peacekeeping in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, and Côte D'Ivoire Cyril I. Obi 5. Inter-governmental Authority on Development on the Ground: Comparing Interventions in Sudan and Somalia Tim Murithi 6. Regional Conflict Management in Central Africa: From FOMUC to MICOPAX Angela Meyer 7. Southern African Development Community as Regional Peacekeeper: Myth or Reality? Maxi Schoeman and Marie Muller 8. Regional Organizations in African Security: A Practitioner's View João Gomes Cravinho 9. Regional Organizations and African Security: Moving the Debate Forward James J. Hentz, Fredrik Söderbaum and Rodrigo Tavares

The African continent is plagued by some of the most brutal and violent conflicts in the world. At the same time that warfare is changing, so has the state's capacity to provide security and political stability to its citizens. This book deals with the role of regional organizations in Africa's security. It focuses on three basic-yet often overlooked-questions: (1) the advantages and disadvantages of African regional and sub-regional organizations vis-à-vis other security mechanisms, (2) the official and unofficial reasons to intervene, and (3) whether security is actually protected by the peace activities carried out by the regional organizations.
The contributors to the book-all leading researchers in the field-systematically assess and compare the role of the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
This book was based on a special issue of African Security.