Warmer welcome: Ways to engage with African solutions to the Russia-Ukraine war
African leaders are undertaking a mission to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. European leaders should not dismiss the effort
Experts & Staff
Alex Veit
ECFR Alumni · Policy Fellow
Areas of expertise
Southern and East Africa, especially DRC, South Africa, and Tanzania; conflict resolution, peacebuilding and humanitarian intervention; political economy of development
Languages
German, English, French
Biography
Alex Veit was policy fellow in the Africa programme at the European Council for Foreign Relations.
Prior to joining ECFR, he led research projects on social policy and welfare systems in Africa; international responses to conflict-related sexual violence; and on the dynamics between multilateral humanitarian and military intervention, non-state armed groups, and government structures in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His research interests also include development cooperation, sovereign debt, social movements, and the dynamics of war and conflict.
Previously, Veit was a senior lecturer at the University of Bremen and interim professor at the University of Marburg. He was also a visiting fellow at the European University Institute in Florence and conducted research at the University of Magdeburg and the University of Bielefeld. His academic writings have been published in leading journals in the field of international relations, and he is co-editor of a forthcoming volume on the heritage of the UN New International Economic Order, to be published in autumn 2023.
Veit holds a PhD in political science and a MA in African studies from Humboldt University at Berlin.
In the media
Alex Veit writes about the role of African politicians in the war in Ukraine
African countries have no geopolitical interest in this war. Quite the opposite, they have suffered greatly because of the conflict.
Alex Veit maintains that Africa could emerge as a moral compass in the pursuit of peace between Russia and Ukraine
African countries have no geopolitical interest in the war and have, on the contrary, suffered greatly from the conflict, first and foremost economically
Alex Veit comments on the role that Africa can play in mediating peace, particularly in the war in Ukraine
This mediation initiative offers an opportunity to bring Ukrainian, European and African points of view into dialogue, paving the way for broader global support to peace negotiations
Alex Veit argues that the African leaders’ visit to Kiev is more likely to have long-term rather than short-term effects.
It’s interesting that the US is taking a much more aggressive stance now
Alex Veit comments on the more aggressive stance taken by the United States towards South Africa