Pillars of Peace : Why There Are So Many Conflicts in Africa and How We Can End Them

Offering a rigorous analysis of why conflict persists across Africa, this book examines how sustainable peace can be achieved. Ayokunu Adedokun draws on five centuries of African intellectual thought, original fieldwork, archival sources, and over twenty case studies to advance a new paradigm for scholars, students, and practitioners globally.

Why does conflict remain a defining challenge across Africa, and how can sustainable peace be achieved? Drawing on five centuries of African intellectual thought, original fieldwork, archival research, and over twenty case studies, Pillars of Peace redefines how we understand conflict and how sustainable peace can be built. Ayokunu Adedokun develops three central contributions. First, the book demonstrates how conflict emerges from the interaction of historical legacies, structural conditions, and post-conflict dynamics. Second, Adedokun introduces an original approach to sustainable peace that integrates African intellectual traditions, including decolonial scholarship and the relational ethics of Ubuntu, while recognising the constructive role of global partnerships. Finally, the study explains why sustainable peace requires the integrated reconstruction of three core pillars: security and public order, political and governance systems, and economic and development foundations within a unified peace architecture. Bridging theory and practice, Pillars of Peace advances a new paradigm for understanding conflict and building sustainable peace globally.