Private Sources of (In-)Security in Africa is a newly started research project, which focuses on non-state sources of security in sub-Saharan Africa.

Non-state sources of security in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is ranging from para-statal institutions operating in the private sphere, militias to private corporations offering security related services.

Despite the fact that the number of conflicts in SSA has declined, many African states remain weak in the sense that the empirical state is at best challenged, if not absent. Scrutinising the African state often reveals other sources than the formal state to power and control in the form of (semi-) autonomous pockets/areas inside the judicial states territory. The main theoretical objective is to investigate what consequences these non-state sources of security and autonomous area has for the concept of “State” in Africa, and on the way “conflict” as a concept is interpreted and understood. A central hypothesis underlying the research is that some kind of order, formal and/or informal, always exists in what is often in the media is perceived as anarchy. To be able to investigate these issues, field studies have been or will be conducted to DR. Congo, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Manu River. This research project is important for the Danish Defence Force because it scrutinizes important dynamics in contemporary African conflict and thereby creates a better understanding of the conflicts that the Danish armed forces will meet if deployed either as part of a PSO mission or as part of the Danish capacity building initiative.

The research is structured into three phases:

1. Late 2008 – June 2010: Theoretical concept paper produced and case studies.
2. August 2010 – Early 2011: Case comparison and concept of state and non-state.
3. Early 2011 – End 2011: The nature of conflict in Africa: can it challenge the way conflict is generally perceived?

Planned events and publications
November 2008: Privatisation Workshop at the RDDC
Jan/February 2009: Field work in the DRC
April 2009: Article on non-state sources of security in the DRC
June 2009: Conference "On Strategy- in Africa" jointly organised by the RDDC and the South African Military Academy.

Want to know more?
Search the Royal Danish Defence College Research Database for research on this topic.
Contact assistant professor, Thomas Mandrup who is responsible for this field of research.