Organizers: The Finnish Institute of International Relations and the Finnish International Studies Association
The symposium examines the patterns of co-option and collaboration between the major new external actors in African crisis management. Crisis management has arguably become a key frame through which multifarious actors of world politics perceive their action and roles in the current world. The continent was a key battleground in the ideological contestation between East and West, the battles – some still simmering – fought most often by proxy.
Today US, European Union, China are trying to bolster their global roles, often in regions far from their own borders. These actors have become the major investors in Africa. They have their own economic and political interests at play. At the same time, these actors contribute resources to different crisis management and peace operations in Africa with an explicit commitment on multilateralism and shared goals.
The complexities of crisis management have rarely been critically evaluated from a comparative perspective despite the recent flurry of studies concentrating on the interlinkages of crisis management with resource competition, security, economy, trade, and technology. The aim of this symposium is to bring together researchers and practitioners involved in crisis management to allow cross-fertilization and synergy of ideas and to enable advancement of research in the field.
Programme
9:30-10:00 Welcome and Introductions
Opening remarks by Mr. Pekka Haavisto, Member of Parliament, Finnish Special Envoy for Horn of Africa and Sudan, former European Union Special Representative for Sudan
10:00-11:30 PANEL 1: Crisis Management in Africa
Speakers:
Professor Joachim A. Koops
Vesalius Collagem Free University of Brussels
Military Crisis Management in Africa: The Challenge of Effective Inter-Organizationalism
Professor Claudia Morsut
University Stavanger and International Research Institute of Stavanger
Effective Multilateralism? EU-UN Co-operation in DRC, 2003-2006
Postdoctoral Researcher Touko Piiparinen
The Centre of Excellence in Global Governance Research, University of Helsinki
An Area of Co-option in Contemporary Crisis Management: Strengthening Sovereignty as Social Fabric in Africa through UN Peacebuilding and Responsibility to Protect
Chair:
Academy of Finland Research Fellow Mika Aaltola
The Finnish Institute of International Affairs
12:30-14:00 PANEL 2: China’s Increasing Crisis Management Involvement in Africa
Speakers:
Professor He Wenpin
African Studies Section at the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies (IWAAS), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
The Darfur Issue: A New Test for China’s African Policy
Research Fellow Xu Jin
Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The Active Participator in A Conservative Framework: China’s Policy on UNPKO
Chair:
Program Director Matti Nojonen
The Finnish Institute of International Affairs
14:00-15:30 PANEL 3: U.S. and European Crisis Management Involvement
Speakers:
Researcher Tuulia Nieminen
The Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Challenges of Applying Foucault to Africa-EU relations
Researcher Barbara Zanchetta
The Finnish Institute of International Affairs
At the Roots of America’s Involvement in the Horn of Africa
Researcher Valtteri Vuorisalo
The Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Opportunities for Crisis Management Involvement
Chair:
Researcher Charly Salonius-Pasternak
The Finnish Institute of International Affairs