Interdisciplinary Research Workshop: Military Actors in African Studies

Military actors have a profound influence on African affairs.  Across the continent, several conflicts continue to cause suffering to local populations. Motived by negative spill-over effects or strategic rivalry, external powers seek to increase their influence through military interventions and security force assistance. At the same time, African armed forces develop their own solutions to combat insecurity. This has far-reaching consequences for both domestic civil-military relations and international diplomacy.

The African Studies Centre Leiden of Leiden University and the Faculty of Military Sciences of the Netherlands Defence Academy proudly present an interdisciplinary research workshop that surveys the current state of academic research on military actors in Africa. Organised on 24-25 November 2025, this event brings together scholars from a range of civilian and military institutions to foster collaborative research on African security studies.

The workshop presents five path-breaking new books on military intervention, intra-state conflict, security force assistance, geopolitical competition, and African armed forces. A roundtable discussion will probe the opportunities and methodological challenges of military-academic collaboration. Please join us in the seminar room of the African Studies Centre Leiden for lively discussions about the role of military actors in African Studies.

Registration is not required.

Location
Leiden University, Herta Mohr building, Witte Singel 27a, 2311 BG Leiden, room 0.31

Programme

Monday 24 November 

09:00   Welcome and introduction by dr. Tycho van der Hoog (Netherlands Defence Academy)

09:15   Session 1: Military Intervention

Book presentation by dr. Jonathan Carroll (Royal Military Academy Sandhurst): Beyond Black Hawk Down: Intervention, Nation-Building, and Insurgency in Somalia, 1992-1995.

Commentary by prof.dr. Thomas Mandrup (Royal Danish Defence College): “African-Led and African-Owned Peacekeeping Between a Rock and a Hard Place”.

10:45   Coffee and tea

11:00   Session 2: Intra-State Conflict

Book presentation by dr. John Kegel (Netherlands Defence Academy): The Struggle for Liberation: A History of the Rwandan Civil War, 1990-1994.

Commentary by dr. Corinna Jentzsch (Leiden University): “Government Responses to Insurgency and the Escalation of Conflict”.

12:30   Break (lunch not included)

13:30   Session 3: Security Force Assistance

Book presentation by prof.dr. Nina Wilén (Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations and Lund University): Securitizing the Sahel: Analysing External Interventions and their Consequences.

Commentary by prof. dr. Mirjam de Bruijn (Leiden University): “Perspectives on Sahel Security for Communities Without Borders”.

14:45   Coffee and tea

15:00   Session 4: Geopolitical Competition

Book presentation by dr. Tycho van der Hoog (Netherlands Defence Academy): Comrades Beyond the Cold War: North Korea and the Liberation of Southern Africa.

Commentary by prof.dr. Sara Van Hoeymissen (Royal Military Academy Belgium): “Africa in a New Era of Geopolitical Competition: From Agency to Strategy”.

16:30   Festive drinks

Tuesday 25 November

14:30   Keynote: African Armed Forces

Prof.dr. Evert Kleynhans (Stellenbosch University): “From Apartheid to Peacekeeping: Understanding African Defence and Armed Forces through the South African Experience”.

The presentation is based on the recently published The Handbook of African Defence and Armed Forces.

15:30   Coffee and tea

15:45   Roundtable: Military-Academic Research

Research on military actors raises important methodological questions concerning access and ethics. Military-academic collaboration both offers opportunities and risks that need further clarification. The roundtable will be introduced by three short presentations that highlight unique perspectives:

• Dr. Maggie Dwyer (University of Edinburgh): “The Opportunities and Challenges of Field Research on Militaries in Africa”.
• Prof.dr. János Besenyő (Óbuda University, African Research Institution): “Hungarian Soldiers in African Peacekeeping Operations: Personal Experiences”.
• Mr. Christian Kjellsson (Swedish Defence University): “Conducting Africanist Research for a European Military Institution”.

17:15   Closing remarks by dr. Lidewyde Berckmoes (Leiden University)

17:30   Festive drinks