Canadian Consortium on Human Security
2007-08 Fellow Profile: Edward Akuffo
Edward Akuffo is a doctoral candidate in International Relations with the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta. He holds an MA in International Relations from Brock University and a BA in Political Science from the University of Ghana. Edward’s primary advisor is Dr. Tom Keating, a professor of International Relations and an expert in Canadian foreign policy. His second advisor is Dr. Malinda Smith, an Associate professor of Political Science and a specialist in African politics. Dr. Andy Knight, a professor of International Relations and director of the Peace and Post-conflict Studies Certificate, is also part of his supervisory committee.
Edward’s Doctoral dissertation is tentatively entitled “Canada’s Policy towards the African Union’s Peace and Security Architecture (AUPSA) and the West Africa Peace and Security Initiative (WAPSI): Towards a Constructivist Analysis and Implications for Policy”. In this study, he is seeking to fully investigate the factors that influence Canadian government’s human security policy towards AUPSA and WAPSI. He explores the meaning and understanding of human security in the Canadian and African contexts, and examines to what extent African views on human security are integrated into the Canadian government’s policy toward AUPSA and WAPSI. To achieve these objectives, Edward is embarking on extensive field research in Accra, and Addis Ababa, where he will interview officials from the Canadian and African governments, NGOs, as well as think tanks.
In using a constructivist approach to international relations as his theoretical framework, Edward’s study not only enriches the theoretical literature on Canadian foreign policy, but also provides an understanding of the conception of human security among policy relevant agents. In this respect, his study provides a fuller understanding of the role of human security in Canadian foreign policy while mapping future directions in Canadian government policy towards AUPSA and WAPSI.
In addition to human security, Edward’s research interests include conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction, international humanitarian law, international organizations, and African politics and development. He taught a third-year course in International Law and International Organisations in the spring of 2005 at Brock University, and has been a teaching and research assistant for political science courses for the past five years. His experience in teaching and research began in Ghana, where he taught high school after graduating from the University of Ghana.
Edward has completed the first phase of his field work in Ottawa. In January 2008, he was awarded a CCHS human security fellowship which will help him complete his second phase of field research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center in Accra. Edward is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including a provost doctoral award and a professional development grant from the University of Alberta, a graduate fellowship at Brock University, a Vice-Chancellor’s honor for outstanding academic performance at the University of Ghana, and a recognition award for being the 8th best presenter out of 33 presenters at the Conference of Defence Associations Institute’s Graduate Symposium. He was also the President of the African Students Association in the University of Alberta.
Edward can be reached at eakuffo (at) ualberta.ca
Publications:
•Akuffo, E. A. (2007). Building Ghana’s Local Governance System: An analysis of Canadian Development Assistance. (Chapter in an edited volume, forthcoming)
•Charles Burton, Kristina Powell, Thomas Kwasi Tieku with Edward Ansah Akuffo (Fall, 2004). The African Union’s Standby Force: Canadian Foreign and Defence Policy Options. Canadian Foreign Policy Vol. 11 No. 1
Conference Presentations:
•Akuffo, E. A. (2007, October 26-27). Canada’s Policy towards the African Union’s Peace and Security Architecture: towards a Constructivist Analysis. Royal Military College, Kingston Ontario
•Akuffo, E. A. (2007, March 16). Building Ghana’s Local Governance System: An Analysis of Canadian Development Assistance. University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
•Akuffo, E. A. (2007, February 1). “Unconventional Weapons of Mass Destruction” and Canadian Human Security Policies in Africa in the Age of Terror. University of Alberta International Week. Edmonton, Alberta
•Akuffo, E. A. (2007, January 26). The AU Security Regime and Canada’s Human Security Policy in Africa: Assessing the (re-) emergence of African Consciousness and Implications for Consolidation. Middle East and African Studies Graduate Conference. Edmonton, Alberta
•Akuffo, E. A. (2004, November 23). Foreign Interventionism in African Conflicts. Brock University Department of Political Science Speaker Series. St. Catharines, Ontario.
•Akuffo, E. A. (2004, February 19). New Strategy for Africa’s Development: Assessing the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and Canada’s Involvement. Brock University Africa Heritage Month Celebration. St. Catharines, Ontario.
