The Angolan Armed Forces and the African Peace and Security Architecture

Abstract

Angola’s involvement in the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) is an example of a rising regional power searching for strategic affirmation. Through a participatory, influential and engaging foreign policy, Angola is committed to a strategic balance in which the Armed Forces (FAA) are an instrument of both military cooperation and conflict resolution within Angola’s area of interest. This article seeks to demystify this paradigm and to reflect upon Angola’s potential interests behind its participation in the APSA’s framework. While being strategic to the development and affirmation of Angola’s military capabilities, the APSA also enables the FAA to function as a mechanism for the assertion of the country’s foreign policy at the regional and continental level. These dynamics are all the more relevant in a context where Luanda holds a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.