Abstract

Peace and security have always been elusive in the international system. Throughout the 20th Century, scholars as well as policy actors and practitioners
have debated over how best to achieve a more peaceful and secure world. In these debates, one of the major preconditions for peace and security has been pegged on a proper management of global power transitions. Many theorists in the academy have for instance been convinced that region-wide wars and international conflicts and their attendant ramifications on the human condition have, for the most part been a reflection of unmanaged and poorly handled power transitions at the global level. Two decades into the 21st Century, the literature and the world of policy alike are rife with debates concerning the phenomenon of emergent global players and/or actors of the non-state kind in the international system. The rise of China, India and other countries of the BRICS family has brought to focus the question of how their disposition and character as emergent challengers impacts the strategic calculations and global standing of older and more established status quo world powers of the global north. Taking on a conceptual and discursive methodological approach mainly informed by systematic qualitative analysis of secondary data on this subject area; this paper responds to the following critical questions, centred on Africa’s role in the entire discourse: what do these emergent players and likely power transitions dynamics portend for peace and security for 21st Century Africa? Does Africa have a role to play in this outlook of things or will she remain a mere spectator, observer or net consumer in a theatre of global actions and processes that would have a bearing on continental peace and security? How and why does Africa matter in this discussion and what is the outlook of Africa’s perspective and understanding in this discourse? Such are the questions that this paper seeks to respond to.