Whose Peace Are We Building?: Leadership for Peace in Africa

Description

What is the relationship between leadership and peace? What kind of leadership styles, processes and strategies are required to gain a deeper understanding of local context while at the same time maintaining the trust and cooperation of host authorities and other stakeholders on the ground? As concerns mount about the continued relevance and efficiency of UN peace operations, Youssef Mahmoud – who led several challenging peace missions in Africa – draws on many years of experience to offer insights into how political leadership might be exercised to help restore and nurture peace. Mahmoud makes the case for a paradigm shift in the type of leadership required to bring about strong, global diplomacy for peace. Making extensive use of the authors' unique personal experiences in Burundi, Central African Republic and Chad, the book offers an unparalleled insight into the leadership challenges of complex and often seemingly intractable conflict situations. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright Contents Illustrations Foreword Introduction The leadership journey Context is king and listening is key The UN: attempting reforms in the pursuit of an elusive peace Burundi: the wounded puzzle MINURCAT in Chad and CAR: an unhappy experiment Leadership for peace The structure of the book 1 Perspectives on Peacebuilding and Leadership Perspectives on peacebuilding Perspectives on leadership Leadership and peacebuilding: the nexus Leadership for sustaining peace 2 An Uncharted Personal Leadership Path The first of nine: born into leadership My sojourn in the land of Shakespeare My accidental journey to America and back Making it to the green glass tower: the United Nations From linguistics to politics via Cambodia and Zaire From political affairs to development cooperation via the Caribbean Concluding thoughts 3 Burundi: A Wounded Puzzle A peaceful and resilient, pre- colonial Burundi The origins of the festering wounds Protracted civil war An unstable situation of no peace no war, prior to my arrival Concluding observations 4 Leading BINUB in a Fragile Context An ounce of preparation is worth a pound of immersion BINUB’s evolving mandate On exercising my integration hat as ERSG Promoting inclusive dialogue The peace process with the FNL: learning to lead from behind Why was I asked to leave Burundi? 5 A Trans-Border Humanitarian Crisis and a Contested Response An evolving crisis Vulnerable populations in unsafe shelters UN and AU sporadic responses UN protection peacekeeping mission without a political mandate MINURCAT at the exit door The situation on the ground on arrival 6 Leading MINURCAT to the Exit Door Preparing the ground for negotiating MINURCAT’s exit The negotiations The council extends MINURCAT’s mandate Implementing the exit process The DIS, without frills, a viable local solution Challenged by local staff grievances Addressing management anomalies, extracting mission assets, consolidating gains Lessons learned from a troubled mission Concluding observations 7 What It Would Take to Build Peace Better Make peace the end goal, but don’t give it a shape The sustainability challenge Avenues for further research on peace and leadership Concluding thought References Annex Index