Grey Zone Conflicts in Africa

Shaping Africa's Security Environment in the 21st Century
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-23258-2
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 352 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Routledge Advances in Defence Studies

This edited volume examines how states, NGOs, international and local actors in Africa compete for influence on the continent by engaging in what is known as grey zone, conflicts using methods and tactics that fall short of open war.

Drawing on examples of grey zone conflicts from across the continent, the book shows how tactics such as disinformation, cognitive warfare, cyber operations, the strategic use of private military companies, sanctions, food and infrastructure deals, and election interference are used to generate political, strategic and economic outcomes without resorting to the open use of military force. It explains these examples in clear language, linking them to Africa’s history of colonialism, liberation struggles, often fragile governance and its nature as a place of contestation for foreign powers, and to today’s wider struggle over global order and power competition. Organised in six thematic parts, the volume moves from core concepts and historical roots to detailed case studies of Russian and Chinese engagement, Western policies, regional alliances, and the battle for hearts and minds. Covering cases from the Sahel to Central Africa and beyond, this collection not only advances the global conversation on grey zone conflict but also reinforces Africa's role in shaping the future of strategic competition and contestation.

This volume will be of much interest to students of hybrid warfare, military and strategic studies, African politics, and Security Studies.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate, Professional Reference, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Putter, Dries

Dov Bachmann, Sascha-Dominik

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Besondere Kriege und Kampagnen
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Nachrichtendienste, Geheimdienste
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Militärgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Afrikanische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Militärwesen Nationale und Internationale Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Foreword, Eeben Barlow, SM  Part I: Conceptual Foundations and Historical Roots  1. Grey Zone Conflict in Africa: A Conceptual and Strategic Introduction, Dries Putter and Sascha-Dominik Dov Bachmann  2. Liberation Struggle as Grey Zone Conflict: The ANC and the Demise of Apartheid, Ditebogo Phyllia Nare and Dries Putter  Part II: Alliances, Strategic Culture and Great-Power Competition  3. The Alliance of Sahel States: Navigating Ambiguity and Power in West Africa’s Grey Zone, Adewale Opeyemi  4. Strategic Culture of the People’s Republic of China: Implications for its activities in Africa, Wolfgang Müller  5. The Potential Impact of Chinese FDI an Foreign Aid in Securing China’s Dominance in Africa, Nina-Mari Taylor  6. Russian Grey Zone Warfare in Africa, Barend L. Prinsloo and Lincoln Cave  Part III: Russian Instruments and Theatres of Influence  7. Russia’s Grey Zone Strategy in Africa: Grain and Fertilizers as a Source of Geopolitical Influence, Tomáš Petrícek and Ondrej Ditrych  8. Wagner, Rebels and the Quagmire of the Central African Republic, Hassan Njifon Njoya  Part IV: Liberal Order, Sanctions and Competing Statecraft  9. The Impact of Foreign Interference on State-Society Relations: Zimbabwe and the Western Bloc on the Grey Zone, Edson Ziso  10. Cyber-Based Sanctions in Africa,  Graeme Plint and Elize Labuschagne  Part V: Cognitive Warfare, NGOs and the Battle of Narratives  11. Hybrid Warfare, Democracy and NGOs: A Case Study on the Mediterranean, Håkan Gunneriusson  12. Disinformation and the Application of International Law in Cyberspace, Peter B.M.J. Pijpers and Lotte Nietzman  13. Africa, Europe’s Colonial Past, and the Politics of Responsibility: The Strategic Use of Historical Narratives in Hybrid, Grey Zone, and Cognitive Warfare, Håkan Gunneriusson and Sascha-Dominik Dov Bachmann  14. Cognitive Warfare: Manipulating thought in the African Grey Zone, Dries Putter and Sascha-Dominik Dov Bachmann  Part VI: Synthesis and Future Directions 15. Grey Zone Conflict in Africa: A Conceptual and Analytical Framework, Dries Putter and Sascha-Dominik Dov Bachmann

Über Autor(innen)

Dries Putter is Division Head for Security and Africa Studies, Senior Lecturer in Defence Intelligence Studies at Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Military Science, South Africa, and Extraordinary Researcher at North-West University’s Centre for Geopolitical Security and Strategy. He is active duty with the rank of Captain (Navy).

Sascha-Dominik Dov Bachmann is Professor in International Law and Security at the University of Canberra’s Faculty of Business, Government and Law, Australia. He is an extraordinary Reader in War Studies (Docent) at the Swedish Defence University. He is affiliated with the Department of Strategic Studies, Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University, and the Risk and Crisis Centre, Mid Sweden University. Sascha is a Lieutenant Colonel (German Army Reserves) with operational experience in peace support missions.