“Redefining Peace in a Shifting World: IGAD, South Sudan, and the New African Security Paradigm,” authored by Dr. Ibrahim Sakawa Magara, is this year’s pick for the Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa’s Annual Book Launch. Ground-breaking and insightful, this literary work offers an exploration of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)’s role in peace-making in the Horn of Africa (HoA), focusing on its efforts in the South Sudan conflict.

The author blends rigorous academic analysis with practitioner insights to demonstrate how IGAD’s distinctive, adaptable approach challenges Eurocentric models of peace, security governance, and regional integration. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and interviews across East Africa, the book critically examines African regionalism, Pan-Africanism, hybrid governance, and the decolonisation of peace theory and practice. By tracing IGAD’s facilitation of the 2018 peace agreement, the publication underscores African agency and calls for reimagining peace, security, and integration from an African perspective.

Dr. Ibrahim Sakawa Magara is an independent researcher and immediate former postdoctoral research fellow with the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform (PeaceRep) at the Centre for Peace and Security (CPS), Coventry University. He holds a PhD in Politics and International Studies from Loughborough University. Before transitioning to academia, he worked for over a decade as a peace practitioner across multiple regions of Africa, collaborating with organizations such as Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Dr. Magara’s research is interdisciplinary, with a primary focus on peace and security regionalism in Africa, particularly in the Horn of Africa (HoA). He has published widely on African peace processes, diplomacy, and regional governance. In 2021, he was awarded the prestigious Policy Leader Fellowship at the School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute (EUI).  

This year’s book submissions underwent a rigorous, high-quality review process conducted by a committee of experts from IPSS and other institutions, whose members possess extensive academic and policy expertise. Each publication was carefully evaluated against the following criteria: 

1. Relevance to peace, security and development in Africa;
2. Contribution to existing knowledge;
3. Originality of objectives, analysis and findings;
4. Quality of methods and information sources;
5. Relevance and contribution to the policy and academic fields;
6. Structure, coherence, flow and language; and
7. Public reception, including critical assessments and reviews.

At the Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa, Dr. Ibrahim Sakawa Magara will present his book to a distinguished audience comprising African heads of state and government, decision-makers from the African Union (AU), the United Nations (UN) and other international organisations, as well as academics and civil society representatives.

The Tana Forum’s Annual Book Launch offers African and non-African authors a platform to showcase their publications, share their ideas, and engage with Forum participants each year.

To purchase the publication: Click Here.