Transactional Peace? Chances and risks of US Deal-Making in Africa

US President Donald Trump claims to have ended conflicts across the globe, often using a distinctly transactional approach to negotiations. Karoline Eickhoff, Fred Bauma and Emadeddin Badi explore how US involvement is changing the dynamics of peace mediation in Africa, focusing on the DRC-Rwanda conflict and Libya.

Guests: Karoline Eickhoff is an associate of SWP’s Africa and Middle East division. Her research focuses on global power shifts and their impact on Africa’s international relations, with a particular emphasis on East Africa.

Emadeddin Badi specializes in conflict and the political economy of violence in Libya and the wider North Africa-Sahel region. He works as an advisor for a number of organizations, including the United Nations. He is also a fellow of Chatham House.

Fred Bauma is a human rights activist and executive secretary of Ebuteli — a research institute based in Kinshasa. He’s also the co-founding member of Afrikki — a network of more than 30 movements from Africa and its diaspora.

Host: Esme Nicholson

Recommended Reading: Narine Karapetyan, Karoline Eickhoff: Transactional Deal-Making: The Promise and Perils for Peace Mediation, Megatrends spotlight 86, 24.09.2026
Karoline Eickhoff: Trump in Africa: Brokering Peace Between Congo and Rwanda?, Megatrends Policy Brief 51, 06.07.2026 Wolfram Lacher, Ann-Marie Verhoeven, Julia Fath: The Changing Face of Foreign Intervention in African Conflicts Megatrends spotlight 62, 05.11.2025
Wolfram Lacher: Libya’s Militias Have Become the State. Dimensions and consequences of a consolidation process, SWP Comment 2023/C 44, 31.07.2023