Entering the blue: conflict resolution and prevention at sea off the coast of East Africa

Abstract

Scholarly work on maritime peacekeeping and responses to maritime insecurity increased notably in the early twenty-first century with much attention turning to Africa's maritime landscape. Africa's offshore security governance became particularly salient as a result of threats to good order at sea as well as how actors in the international system responded. One way of describing the responses to Africa's maritime domain is to view it as part of the response continuum depicting conflict prevention and conflict resolution. Security arrangements at sea depict a growing recognition of the importance of Africa's oceans to the extent that the landward focus of many leaders and security actors has gained a parallel domain – that of maritime security. Thrust upon the wider African security agenda by piracy off East Africa, the importance of the African maritime landscape dawned not only upon the international community and the UN in particular, but the African leadership as well. Threats at sea around Africa have an umbilical connection to what transpires on land and are equally complex to deal with. In a certain way, as suggested in this piece, reactions to promote maritime security governance off eastern Africa have become part of the wider conflict resolution agendas of actors as displayed off the Horn of Africa and in waters of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) further to the south.

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