Peacebuilding as Adaptation: Regional Responses to Complexity in the Lake Chad Basin

This dissertation analyzes the regional stabilization framework in the Lake Chad Basin through the lens of adaptive peacebuilding. The region is facing a complex crisis in which insecurity is closely linked to climate change, environmental degradation, poverty, violent extremism, weak governance, and chronic underdevelopment. In response, regional and international actors have developed a stabilization architecture aimed at addressing both immediate security threats and the structural factors that drive fragility. Through a qualitative analysis of documents, the study traces the evolution of this framework and finds that it incorporates several features consistent with adaptive peacebuilding. However, its effectiveness and long-term sustainability remain limited by the same factors that initially drove regional cooperation, such as persistent insecurity, institutional and governance issues, and extreme climate variability.