“Warfare without War? The Why and How of Operational Histories in African Conflicts”

The past several years have seen a notable growth in the subfield of African military history. While a consistent strain of inquiry since the emergence of academic African history in the 1960s, the past decade has seen the emergence of several historiographical articles, a focused journal, and even a dedicated series of books on war and militarism in African history by the University of Ohio Press. However, despite this growth the historiography has retained a significant gap. While the role of African militaries and warfare as social phenomena has been increasingly explored, the actual histories of African conflicts are sorely understudied. This has left the historiography as one of warfare without war, unfortunately reinforcing the concept of African conflicts as violent, anarchic, and senseless as opposed to organized struggles for political ends. This round table intends to offer a discussion on the development of the historiography to the present day, the importance of discussing the actual course and waging of historical conflicts within the discipline, and, most critically, how scholars might pursue the development of operational histories to enrich or even develop their own historical projects. The scholars involved believe that this is an important and underserved topic that will allow for the more effective construction of the African historical past as well as counter continued representations of African conflicts as simplistic or parochial struggles.