Dr. Kwesi Aning currently serves as head of the Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution Department (CPMRD) of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Accra, Ghana. Prior to taking up his new position in January 2007, he served as the African Union's first Expert on Counter-terrorism, defense and security with responsibility for implementing the continental counter-terrorism strategy and oversight of the African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT) in Algiers, Algeria.

Dr. Aning holds a doctorate from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. His primary research interests deal with African security issues broadly, comparative politics, terrorism and conflicts. He has taught in several universities in Europe and Africa and was recently given an adjunct professorship with the 34th External Session of The Hague Academy of International Law.

Dr. Aning's recent publications have appeared in Journal of Asian and African Studies, Encyclopedia of African History and African Security Review, with several book chapters due in 2007. He has just published a monograph titled ‘Regional Security Complexes and Responses’ as part of the Coping with Crisis series by the International Peace Academy (IPA). Furthermore, he is completing a major study on ‘The war on terror, security and official development assistance’. He reviews for several scholarly journals and serves on diverse Boards.

Selected Publications:

• "Opportunities and Challenges of Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector in Ghana" in Adedeji, Ebo, Ed. Challenges and Opportunities for Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector. (Geneva: DCAF) 2008.
• "Security, War on terror and ODA: Is there a need for a new aid architecture?" Southern Perspectives on Reform of the International Development Architecture, 2008.
• "From ‘voluntary’ mechanism to a ‘binding’ process: the ECOWAS Convention on SALW and Ghana," Journal of Contemporary African Studies, Vol.26, No. 3, May 2008.
• "Understanding US peacekeeping policy in Africa: from ACRI to AFRICOM," International Peacekeeping, Vol. 15, No. 1, 2008.
• "China’s African Ventures" (co-authored with Delphine Lecoutre), African Security Review, Vol. 17,  No. 1, 2008.
• "Evaluation of the Global Project on Strengthening the Legal Regime against terrorism," (selected countries in francophone and Latin America) Vienna: UNODC, 2007.
• "The Unintended Consequences of Peace Support Operations on Ghana," in Ramesh Thakur, Chiyuki  Aoi & Cedric de Coning, Eds, Peacekeeping and its Consequences. (Tokyo: UNU Press) 2007.
• "Re-Inventing and Rebuilding the Ghanaian State: Towards a New Triumphalism?" in Reconstructing the State in Africa, Pita Ogaba Agbese & George Klay Kieh, Jr. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan) 2007.
• "Are there transnational organised criminal groups in West Africa?: the case of Ghana," Journal of Global Crime, Vol. 8, No. 3, 2007.
• "Norms, values and the emerging peace and security architectures in Africa: the case of ECOWAS," Journal of Politics, Vol. 10. No. 3, 2007.
• "Africa: Confronting Complex Threats," Coping with Crisis Working Paper No. 2, International Peace Academy, New York, 2007.

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