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Researcher

Cedric H. de Coning

Research Professor
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cdc@nupi.no
+(47) 942 49 168
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Summary

Cedric de Coning is a Research Professor in the Research group on peace, conflict and development at NUPI. 

He co-directs the NUPI Center on United Nations and Global Governance, and the Climate, Peace and Security Risk project. He coordinates the Effectiveness of Peace Operations Network (EPON) and contributes to the Training for Peace programme, the UN Peace Operations project (UNPO) and several others. He is also a senior advisor for ACCORD. He tweets at @CedricdeConing. 

Cedric has 30 years of experience in research, policy advise, training and education in the areas of conflict resolution, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and peace and conflict studies. Cedric has a Ph.D. in Applied Ethics from the Department of Philosophy of the University of Stellenbosch, and a M.A. (cum laude) in Conflict Management and Peace Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Expertise

  • Africa
  • Peace operations
  • International organizations
  • United Nations

Education

2012 PhD, Applied Ethics, Department of Philosophy, University of Stellenbosch

2005 M.A., Conflict Management and Peace Studies, University of KwaZula-Natal

Work Experience

2020- Research Professor, NUPI

2012-2020 Senior Researcher, NUPI

2006-2012 Researcher, NUPI

2002- Senior Advisor (Consultant), ACCORD

2002 Training Officer, UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO)

2001-2002 Political Affairs Officer, Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG), UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET)

2001 Civil Affairs Officer, Office of District Affairs, UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET)

2000 Assistant Director: Programmes, ACCORD

1999-2000 Civil Affairs Officer, Bobonaro District UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET)

1997-1999 Programme Manager: Peacekeeping, ACCORD

1988-1997 Assistant Director, Department of Foreign Affairs, Pretoria, South Africa

Aktivitet

Publications
Publications
Report

A Shared Commitment: African-Nordic Peace and Security Cooperation

Over the past decade, the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden – have strengthened their relationship with African states and societies by supporting the African Peace and Security Archi- tecture and promoting African involvement in conflict prevention, media- tion, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding efforts. This report offers an over- view of the partnership between African and Nordic countries in peace and security from 2012 to 2021. It features original case studies on Nordic country cooperation with African actors and institutions, across an array of efforts, including support to peace processes, building capacity and training for inclusive conflict management, contributing to peace opera- tions, and advancing gender equality, climate adaptation and resilience. It also includes perspectives on cross-cutting themes such as women, peace and security, youth, countering violent extremism, and partnership with the African Union. The report aims to be a resource for the policy commu- nity, mapping African-Nordic cooperation, in pursuit of peace and security in Africa.

  • Security policy
  • Development policy
  • Africa
  • Peace operations
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Governance
  • International organizations
  • AU
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  • Security policy
  • Development policy
  • Africa
  • Peace operations
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Governance
  • International organizations
  • AU
Articles
New research
Articles
New research

African-Nordic Peace and Security Cooperation

A new report highlights the strategies adopted by the Nordic countries in African-Nordic peace and security cooperation.
  • Security policy
  • Development policy
  • Africa
  • Peace operations
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Governance
  • International organizations
  • AU

Climate, Peace and Security Fact Sheet: Somalia

Somalia experienced its worst drought on record from 2021 to 2023, with an unprecedented five consecutive failed rainy seasons that displaced hundreds of thousands of people, undermined livelihoods and raised the spectre of famine in some areas. From August 2022, clan militias and the Somali armed forces launched operations against al-Shabab in some of the most drought-affected regions. As climate change and conflict continue apace in Somalia, the need for robust analyses and responses to climate-related security risks has never been greater.
  • Africa
  • Climate
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Publications
Publications
Scientific article
Cedric H. de Coning, Minoo Koefoed, Thor Olav Iversen, Asha Ali, Florian Krampe, Kyungmee Kim, Katongo Seyuba, Kheira Tarif

Climate, Peace and Security Fact Sheet: Somalia

Somalia experienced its worst drought on record from 2021 to 2023, with an unprecedented five consecutive failed rainy seasons that displaced hundreds of thousands of people, undermined livelihoods and raised the spectre of famine in some areas. From August 2022, clan militias and the Somali armed forces launched operations against al-Shabab in some of the most drought-affected regions. As climate change and conflict continue apace in Somalia, the need for robust analyses and responses to climate-related security risks has never been greater.

  • Africa
  • Climate
CPSR Somalia.PNG
  • Africa
  • Climate

Climate, Peace and Security in Somalia

In a new updated Fact Sheet from the joint NUPI and SIPRI Climate-related Peace and Security Risks Project (CPSR), the team explore the nexus between climate change, peace, and security in Somalia.
  • Africa
  • Climate
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Publications
Publications
Scientific article

COVID-19 and the Resilience of Africa’s Peace and Security Networks

Many commentators predicted that the impact of COVID-19 on Africa, with its high levels of under-development and weak public health systems, will be particularly catastrophic. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and economic sectors have exposed and compounded preexisting social, political, and environmental vulnerabilities, especially in conflict-affected countries and regions, and have severely stress-tested their social cohesion and resilience. Global and local peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts in Africa have also been significantly disrupted. More than 1 year into the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa, however, the emerging pattern is one of resilience rather than insecurity and chaos. This article assesses the disruption caused by COVID-19 to Africa’s peace and security networks and considers how a complexity informed Adaptive Peacebuilding approach can assist in strengthening community resilience and stimulating self-organized adaptive capacity. The spread of the virus is still increasing steadily, and the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better. The question is what can African civil society, governments and multilateral organizations do to further strengthen and support the pattern of resilience that has emerged over the first 1 year of the COVID-19 crises in Africa? The author would like to recognize the invaluable research assistance of Neyma Mahomed Ali and the contribution of ACCORD’s COVID-19 Conflict and Resilience Monitor. The engagement with colleagues and contributors stimulated much of the analysis contained in this article.

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Publications
Publications

How Not to Do UN Peacekeeping: Avoid the Stabilization Dilemma with Principled and Adaptive Mandating and Leadership

Looking back over the past seventy-five years of UN peacekeeping, the most enduring question has been: Is peacekeeping effective? Historically, most peacekeeping operations have been. However, peacekeeping is currently suffering from a significant trust deficit. One important factor that differentiates contemporary peacekeeping operations with a stabilization mandate from the historic record is the absence of a viable political or peace process. When security is not directed to serve a peace process, it produces a stabilization dilemma: the more effectively a peace operation protects and achieves stability, the less incentive there is for ruling political elites to find long-term political solutions. This dilemma generates several perverse effects, including prolonging the conflict, trapping operations in place with no exit options, increasing the resilience of armed groups, and embedding peacekeeping in the local political economy. The article identifies five factors that help prevent the stabilization dilemma and influence the effectiveness of peace operations.

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Articles
Analysis
Articles
Analysis

ANALYSIS: BRICS and the West: Don’t Believe the Cold War Hype

While it is prudent to be cautious, it may also be wise to explore cooperation in those areas where there are shared interests rather than assume that the BRICS and the West are strategic rivals on all fronts.
  • Global economy
  • Global governance
Articles
Analysis
Articles
Analysis

Should the Security Council Engage with Implications of Climate Change? Let’s Look at the Scientific Evidence

Climate change is a controversial topic at the United Nations (UN) Security Council. The Council has adopted over 70 resolutions and presidential statements that address aspects of climate-related peace and security implications. However, a few members strongly oppose adding climate change to the Security Council agenda. When a thematic resolution on the security implications of climate change came up for a vote in December 2021, Russia went so far as to veto it. India also voted against it, while China abstained. But twelve Council members voted in favor, and 113 non-members co-sponsored the resolution—the second highest number of co-sponsors in Security Council history.
  • Climate
  • United Nations
Publications
Publications
Report

Pathways for peace 5th Anniversary European Consultation: Are our concepts and theories of change for inclusion and prevention still relevant for o...

The UN and World Bank published a landmark report in 2018 on “Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflict.” The report urged a pivot to prevention, strengthened the business case for prevention initiatives, and highlighted new research on the importance of inclusion in efforts to prevent conflict and build peace. Five years later, the global landscape has changed significantly and is now grappling with a complex set of converging crises and cascading risks. In the context of the report’s 5th anniversary, the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), in partnership with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs of the United Nations and the Fragility, Conflict and Violence Group of the World Bank, arranged a virtual consultation with mostly European-based researchers, practitioners, and policymakers on 4th April 2023. The consultation was part of a series of events that are reflecting on the contribution of the Pathways for Peace report. The overarching question for the consultation was whether the concepts, and theories of change, that was at the core of the Pathways for Peace report - especially inclusion and prevention - are still relevant for our fast changing conflict landscape? This summary note captures the key insights gained from the European Consultation.

  • Foreign policy
  • Peace operations
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  • Foreign policy
  • Peace operations
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