On 28 June 2022, an international scientific conference titled Between Promise and Peril: African Security in the 21st Century was hosted by the Centre for Sociological and Political Science (CSPR) of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IAfr RAS) in collaboration with the University of the Free State (Bloemfontein, South Africa) and the Independent University of Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Republika Srpska). The conference, attended by over 110 participants, brought together experts and academics from various institutions to discuss Africa’s most pressing security challenges. Following that conference, a collaborative project led by editors Sergey Kostelyanets and Hussein Solomon resulted in the publication of an edited collection that drew on numerous scholars’ contributions.

 

This second edition of Let’s Talk is scheduled for 6 December 2023. During this online session, the panellists will explore the book’s core themes and reflect on the discussions from the June 2022 event. Panellists, including the editors Kostelyanets and Solomon and contributor Benjamin Mokoena, will dive into the central issues surrounding African security, such as the unfulfilled aspirations of Agenda 2063, which aimed to silence guns across Africa by 2020. As of 2023, this goal remains elusive, with Africa continuing to grapple with fragmented violence driven by non-state actors, insurgencies, and geopolitical competition. Mokoena will shed light on his chapter focusing on state fragility in Kenya, where weak governance has fuelled Islamist extremism and complicated efforts to effectively counter violent extremism. The panel will also discuss topics like hybrid warfare, the role of external powers, and the need for Afrocentric approaches to address Africa’s security dilemmas.

 

Sergey Kostelyanets

 

Sergey Kostelyanets is the Head of the CSPR of the IAfr RAS and an Associate Professor at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. His research focuses on armed conflicts, terrorism, and conflict resolution in Africa, as well as secessionist movements and Russia’s relations with African and Muslim countries. Kostelyanets is the author of Darfur: A History of the Conflict (in Russian) and has published over 100 research papers. He previously worked at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), focusing on human rights and combating human trafficking.

 

Hussein Solomon

 

Hussein Solomon is a Senior Professor at the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies at the University of the Free State and a Visiting Professor at Stellenbosch University. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of South Africa and is renowned for his expertise in terrorism, conflict resolution, and international relations theory, particularly in the African context. Solomon is an Academy of Science of South Africa member and has published extensively on African security. His recent works include the co-edited volumes African Security in the Anthropocene and The Future of War in Africa. He is also a former convenor of the National Research Foundation’s (NRF) Philosophy and Political Science subject specialist rating group.

 

Benjamin Mokoena

 

Benjamin Mokoena, an alumnus of the University of the Free State and lecturer in the Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University, specialises in African security, foreign policy, violent extremism, terrorism, and insurgency. His academic background includes fellowships at the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies and the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies in the United States. Mokoena’s teaching areas encompass African security, geopolitics, international political economy, and political theory. His research focuses on governance and security dynamics in Africa, including the rise of extremist movements.

 

Please click here to watch this discussion of Let's Talk on our YouTube Channel.