Event Date: February 5, 2019 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Location: FSS4004, 120 Université Privé

Presented by CIPS

In December 2015, following violent confrontations between the Burundian army and rebel groups, the African Union issued a communiqué to deploy a 5,000-strong peacekeeping mission. However, African heads of state tabled the plan, calling for the approval of the Burundian government. The Peace and Security Council’s decision to deploy the mission followed by the body’s inability to follow through illustrates the ups and downs of the African Union’s recent involvement in Burundi. While the organization has attempted to mediate the crisis, its failure to implement key decisions has also exposed important vulnerabilities that may have implications for future security challenges on the continent.

Prof. Yolande Bouka is a Visiting Assistant Professor of International Affairs and African Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and a Liu Institute Visiting Scholar at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia. As a scholar-practitioner, her research and teaching bridge International Relations (IR) and Comparative Politics with specific interests in contentious politics, dynamics of war, gender and security, and field research ethics in Sub-Saharan Africa.  She holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from American University (2013).