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Guest Editor’s Note
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conflict to the ‘Arab-Fur’ civil war from 1987 to 1989 and disputes the notion that it is
an African-Arab war. Mamdani’s interpretations and assertions, according to Martin,
are likely to leave readers more confused than enlightened about the Darfur conflict.
Golda Keng reviews Africa’s New Peace and Security Architecture: Promoting Norms,
Institutionalizing Solutions, a compilation of critical commentary anal-ysing the
African Union’s new framework edited by Ulf Engel and João Gomes Porto. She outlines authors’ viewpoints on the five pillars of the peace and security architecture—
the Peace and Security Council, the Continental Early Warning System, the African
Standby Force, the Panel of the Wise, and the Peace Fund—and assesses the volume
to be a well-written, well-researched, and candid contribution on these institutions.
The articles in this issue contribute to the perspective that the overarching goal of
peacebuilding is to establish legitimate governing structures based on a set of embedded dimensions, rooted in historical and cultural contexts, that in turn determine the
relationship between states and their citizens. They advocate for resilient political
processes responsive and adaptive to change through mechanisms of democratic
peacebuilding and justice, such as participation, inclusion, and consideration for local
populations and contexts.
Pamela Machakanja
Associate Director
Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance
Africa University, Zimbabwe