ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with how international relations manifests itself in the African context. It focuses on the role that peace operations play in Africa. The chapter also focuses on how African institutions undertake peace operations and what that tells us about their ability to influence international relations. It explores United Nations (UN) peace-keeping operations in Africa, as well as the role of other international actors such as the European Union, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, People's Republic of China, India and Brazil. Collective norms and values emerge through many generations of challenges and resulting adaptations and refinement. The African Peace and Security Architecture system has not yet had sufficient opportunity to develop the amount of collective experiences necessary for it to develop into a self-organized peace and security system, with its own culture and shared norms and values.
