Stability and Security in Africa: The Role of Hard and Soft Power

Enhancing the strategic thinking on issues related to stability and security at the African level requires challenging the predominant classical conception of security towards a more comprehensive, supportive and inclusive approach. While traditional strategies are often based on military responses and hard power, it is necessary to emphasize soft power in all its dimensions, placing the individual at the heart of all conflict prevention and management methods. Some authors argue for a rupture with the post-colonial paradigm and advocate in favor of a new polemological approach that takes into account African specificities and “neo-customary methods” in preventing and resolving conflicts, while others, contextualized the interaction between hard and soft powers through different case studies.