Proponents of the resolution approach favour the raising of fundamental issues because they believe that conflict can be resolved. The United Nations can build and deploy its own multinational military force consisting of personnel, called peacekeepers, supplied by member countries. xyyXSdVmIlcuuEgy9! The content of this refereed journal must meet standards of general scholarship. Foltz, William J. Problem solving and international relations. 0000160496 00000 n The Arab uprisings in Libya, Syria, and Yemenduring which anti-government protesters fought to oust oppressive political leadersdevolved into prolonged and violent wars of succession. After cataloguing and categorising the different conflict types in post-independence Africa, it may now be appropriate to highlight the debate on conflict resolution and conflict management, consider the main intervention agencies and examine the different approaches employed to deal with the different conflicts. In East Africa, the war in South Sudan, the collapse of the State in Somalia, and the conflicts in Rwanda and Burundi, the situation in Ethiopia as well as the wars in former Zaire, are significant examples of protracted conflicts. In the case of the intractable fratricidal war in South Sudan, intervention was mainly intermittent from 1990 and undertaken by the Djibouti-based IGADD/IGAD. Duala-Mbedy (1984:10) asserted that the European concept of state has had a strong influence on African countries and that it was this concept of state that led to drawing up of arbitrary borders throughout Africa. One typical example is the treatment John Ngu Foncha and the Southern Cameroons received from the United Kingdom, the United Nations, France and La Rpublique du Cameroun in 1961 (Munzu 1995:1). Political repression and non-respect for human rights are synonymous with bad governance. 3) Liberation conflicts: Liberation conflicts are those conflicts that involve entire nations or peoples who find themselves within the territorial boundaries of given countries by colonial and colonising arrangements. Terrorists can capitalize on instability caused by intrastate conflict to train, prepare for, and carry out attacks. Cohen (1996:4) summed it all when he affirmed that East Africa in general was a sub-region where neither the African Unity (AU) nor the international community had been able to advance conflict management significantly beyond humanitarian intervention. Some scholars, including Mokwugo Okoyo (1977), Bonny Duala-MBedy (1984), Claude Ake (1985) and Herman J. Cohen (1995), consider the numerous conflicts in Africa as a natural consequence of Africas colonial past. However, some experts argue that a rethink of traditional understandings of sovereignty is required in an era in which one countrys domestic issues can trigger global consequences. In Africa, however, it is sometimes difficult to classify these conflicts from a purely western standpoint in regard to the concepts of nation and state in international law. Additionally, foreign countries can intervene militarily to prevent further violence. The case in Africa has been the transition to participatory democracy. In the case of one of these new African democracies, the Senators were elected only by Councillors whose term of office had long elapsed. 0000020625 00000 n Since 1945, when World War II ended, interstate wars have become increasingly rare. Feature Flags: { Major armed conflicts in 1990. 1996, pp. Apart from the US, the leaders of this conflict management support were France and Britain Western governments with colonial, economic and political stakes and the longest history of military-to-military relations in the continent (Cohen 1996:4). Interstate And Intra-State Conflicts: Main Causes And - WritingBros For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions 1985. 5) Annexationist conflicts: Annexationist conflicts arise when one nation annexes another nation in part or wholly, or where two nations lock horns over interests that belong to neither of them from the point of view of history and international law. In this regard, many political leaders of Africa, especially those in the former French colonies, were and continued to be imposed upon the people with almost no consideration for good governance. "corePageComponentGetUserInfoFromSharedSession": true, The article also argues that conflicts at sub-national and national levels in Africa are of several types, and that imposing peace-keeping forces as has often been the case, or merely imposing new political and economic institutions on the various African conflicts, may not provide the desired durable outcomes. Groom, John R. 1986. <<256AF91838602D4CA38D78ABA683FB24>]>> Within the African context, the new post-colonial states have been characterized by intranational crises and violent inter-ethic and inter-regional confrontations. Intrastate Conflict. In addition to these fundamental problems of principle, other problems continue to be a challenge to AU peace-keeping missions. The article reconsiders the conflict management and conflict resolution debate and indicts former colonial powers and powerful organisations for maintaining colonial-style approaches to African conflicts at the expense of a desire to address the fundamental issues that divide the parties to the different conflicts. In post-colonial Africa, these conflicts are greatly exacerbated by the neo-colonial arrangements that characterise many African governments. Colonial rule was the antithesis of democracy, because it was premised on the usurpation of the fundamental right of self-determination and of the fundamental human rights of citizens and peoples. The case was not different in Sierra Leone and Liberia. 56 41 1991. pp. Conflict and conflict resolution in Africa: A conceptual framework. Stedman, S.J. thousands off your degree. An estimated sixty million people3 percent of the world's populationdied during World War II. k!DI,Sp")P5GDO,v!@8: *x61\1HO sVbs?c / 0Na0a}%Nst=eGY7q_y -``iN{0dt:09 ms ! The bulk of these interventions were in the form of peace-keeping. These African leaders have not only retained the politics of power and violence, but many of them have also continued to reinforce the tradition. Some light will be shed on the typology of African conflicts later on in this analysis. 0000028934 00000 n Bryson, John M. and Barbara C. Crosby 1992. It was also curious in Cameroon to note that 30 of the 100 members of the Senate of the country were appointed by the President. Infectious disease outbreaks in conflict zones can easily spread uncontrolled across borders. Political repression in Africa goes back to Africas colonial legacy. Inter-ethnic or inter-tribal conflicts abound in many countries of Africa. Let us now consider the basis of African nations or states, and the concepts of power and governance. In todays interconnected world, challenges within one countrys borders have ramifications for the entire globe. The curious nature of this kind of conflict is that the disputed territory belongs to neither of the warring parties in the conflict. 0000000016 00000 n Two decades and more after the democratic struggles started in the 1990s, these countries continue to be ruled by Presidential decree in spite of the existence of democratic parliaments and plans to introduce Senatorial processes. It is difficult to imagine how the War Crimes Tribunal in Rwanda helped to bring justice to the situation bred, for instance, by colonialism and the de-colonisation process in Burundi and Rwanda. This does not include civil wars and wars of independence, or smaller clashes with limited casualties (less than 100 combat deaths).The largest interstate war in history, World War II, involved most of the world's countries, after which the United . hasContentIssue false, Copyright African Studies Association 2004. 0000140331 00000 n Copyright IAARR, 2010: www.afrrevjo.com 551 Indexed African Journals Online: www.ajol.info struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power and resources in As this scholar of colonialisms culture has argued, [I]f we had transcended colonial images and narratives more comprehensively, perhaps we would not need to discuss them at all, but there is no emptiness at present in which such a confident silence can be heard (Thomas 1994:195). 2017-2023 Council on Foreign Relations. "coreDisableSocialShare": false, This remark by the UN Secretary-General illustrated the superficial approach employed by the world body in regard to conflicts in Africa. 0000120271 00000 n 56 0 obj <> endobj Some of these efforts undertaken in the 1990s included negotiations between Angolas factions coordinated by the Portuguese in 1990-1992; the mediation efforts of the Italians in the civil war in Mozambique during 1991-1993; and the efforts of the United States with regard to Ethiopia in 1990-1991 and Somalia in 1992-1993. and I. William Zartman eds. East Timor formerly in Indonesia, and Tibet in China appear to belong to this conflict category. Although the most severe consequences of intrastate conflict are experienced where fighting takes place, some effects are far reaching. Ethiopia: State Building or Imperial Revival? The Eritrean Independence War was, until the countrys independence in 1993, erroneously considered as an internal affair of Ethiopia just as the war in South Sudan was for long considered as Sudans internal affair. View all Google Scholar citations Interview at the conclusion of his four-year term as Assistant Secretaryof State for Africa. The State and Internal Conflict - GSDRC While Zartman (1984:41) considered that there is no OAU in matters of African conflict; there are only members and their interests come first, Foltz (1991:349) viewed the OAU as most conservative having six of the seven principles enumerated in Article III of its Charter designed to serve in part or in whole to protect the autonomy of member states from interference or coercion by other members or by the Organisation as a whole. 0000130985 00000 n Since 1970, Africa has seen more than thirty wars which have resulted in more than half of all war-related deaths worldwide and have produced about 9.5 million refugees (The Observer, June 15, 2003).The conflicts have led to genocide in Rwanda and gross violations of human rights, including gruesome mutilations of large numbers of . Conflicts between countries have been some of the deadliest affairs in human history. The future of intra-state conflict in Africa. The first major difference between the two approaches concerns the desire or not to raise the fundamental issues that divide the parties to a conflict. Visit the UExcel World Conflicts Since 1900: Study Guide & Test Prep page to learn more. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings. Ryan (1990:106) cited the example of the London Conference of 1959 which resulted in the independence of Cyprus to illustrate the point that in the management approach the third parties may try and impose a solution by working behind the backs or above the heads of one or more of the main contenders. The future of intra-state conflict in Africa - ISS Africa In some other cases, these conflicts have not yet led to severe violence mainly because the situations were greatly repressed. Intra-State Conflicts After the Cold War - Study.com Between 2001 and 2017, 99 percent of all terrorism-related deaths occurred in countries that were embroiled in conflict or had high levels of political terror (which includes extrajudicial killings, torture, and imprisonment without trial). The point here, however, is that the people who seek to liberate themselves and their territory consider themselves as having been compelled by colonial forces to live with a different group, often with great incompatibilities as in the case of South Sudan and the others cited above. At the same time, the people of Southern Cameroons consider that the present occupation of the Bakassi Peninsula by the Nigerian Army, though provoked by the hostile behaviour of gendarmes from La Rpublique du Cameroun, is entirely illegal. Cohen, Herman J. Ake (1985:1213) argued strongly that because many leaders in Africa were insecure when they inherited power, they continued to cling tenaciously to the idea of the rulers exclusive claim to power. 75-104. Content may require purchase if you do not have access. French intervention in post-colonial African conflicts came mainly under the umbrella of the European Union. UExcel World Conflicts Since 1900: Study Guide & Test Prep, Ethnic Conflicts: Nationalism, Causes & Examples, Civil Wars in the Post-Cold War International System, The Role of Nationalism in Modern Intra-State Conflict. In spite of the colonial basis of this conflict, it was difficult for many years to state any willingness on the part of the agencies to seek a lasting solution by addressing the profound causes of conflict. All rights reserved. The critical question then is how we understand the problem of conflict resolution in Africa when the actors, mainly external to Africa, propagate the idea of peace and conflict resolution corresponding mainly to their own interests and view of Africa and the world. Cohens assertion has a major implication for understanding the various conflicts and the attempts to resolve such conflicts on the continent. 0000011177 00000 n Additionally, neighboring countries have faced challenges of suddenly accommodating thousandsif not millionsof new residents. Definition: Conflicts involving the police, military, or other government groups persecuting the countrys own citizensoften targeting those from a minority group.Example: For decades, Buddhist-majority Myanmar has persecuted religious minorities in the country, including its Rohingya Muslims. xref 0000161216 00000 n A quarterly journal on all issues related to peace, aimed at the general reader. How Does Artificial Intelligence Influence Conflict? 0000063672 00000 n Additionally, intrastate conflict can weaken a countrys health system, impairing its ability to contain infectious disease outbreaks. To a very large extent, the stakes are participation and distribution at the centre. Whereas in the Western Sahara Conflict, Algeria fought against Morocco alongside the indigenous Polissario Front, the Bakassi Peninsula belongs to neither of the two nations that claim the territory. From a conflict resolution standpoint, the critique by Feldman (2008:267) that without strong AU military forces capable of providing effective interventions, many African conflicts will either remain unresolved or depend on forces outside the continent to attempt to impose a non-African solution on them is misplaced because military forces do not resolve conflict; they only succeed in some cases to reduce the violence. "corePageComponentUseShareaholicInsteadOfAddThis": true, In: Zunes, Stephen and Jacob Mundy 2010. PDF 3 NATURE AND FORMS OF CONFLICT: INTRA-STATE, INTER-STATE - eGyanKosh In this regard, an attempt to focus on the various types of conflicts in Africa from the standpoints of the subject or nature of the dominant issues involved in each category is important. 0000001818 00000 n African independence and African political leadership can be seen to be very closely related. John Burton (1979; 1984; 1987; 1990), for example, calls for the adoption of a human needs approach, arguing for a paradigm shift in how we analyse conflicts. McGovern, George 2010. Attacks by al-Shabaab, a terrorist group, have left Somalias already fragile government unable to carry out crucial functions such as maintaining security and responding to natural disasters like a devastating drought in 2011. The question remains whether there is the political will at the African Union, the United Nations, and among former colonial powers to move beyond the colonial-style desire to merely suppress or perhaps eliminate overt violence. Msabaha, Ibrahim 1991. See interpleader to the ICJ in the 1994 Bakassi Peninsula Case between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and La Rpublique du Cameroun. In addition to causing the collapse or near collapse of some states, these conflicts have produced severe economic dislocation and disruption in the provision of public services. The critical question then is how we understand the problem of conflict resolution in Africa when the actors, mainly external to Africa, propagate the idea of peace and conflict resolution corresponding mainly to their own interests and view of Africa and the world. Anyone can earn credit-by-exam regardless of age or education level. In the resolution process, multi-level efforts are needed by domestic and international actors to be responsive to the underlying causes of intra-state conflicts. Letter from Birmingham jail. Any discussion of internal or national governance therefore cannot exclude the structure of the state and the political leadership as inherited from colonialism, given that the basis for African states and political leadership in most of the continent is colonial. Let us now turn our attention to an examination of the various conflicts in order to categorise them. He argued that conflict, recurring instability, and bad governance in Zaire, Rwanda, and Burundi can be traced back to the hasty and unprepared granting of independence by Belgium in 1960. All rights reserved. The third party is not a go-between, negotiator or mediator. Consequently, the case which has been filed at the International Court of Justice against the Federal Republic of Nigeria by La Rpublique du Cameroun, and which is based on the presumption that it is the successor state to the defunct Federal Republic of Cameroun, has no foundation in International Law because La Rpublique du Cameroun has no locus standi in the Bakassi Peninsula, This excerpt exposes some of the contradictions of colonialism and the process of de-colonisation which were always in keeping with the colonial culture of constructing non-Europeans as subhuman. Kriesberg, Louis 1982. A close examination of the various conflicts occurring in Africa reveals two broad categories, namely intra-state and inter-state conflicts. The point at issue is that there are different types of conflicts in Africa. This situation may be the reason why many African conflicts may be silenced but remain largely unresolved. For example, foreign countries can try to bring the warring groups to diplomatic talks. Public mistrust of health officials, after decades of unequal health-care access, further made it possible for Ebola to spread quickly across borders in West Africa and kill more than eleven thousand people. One example is the American Civil War, in which southern, slaveholding states attempted to break away from the United States and form a new countrythe Confederate States of Americawhere slavery would remain legal. The African continent remains besieged by many conflicts. Article 4 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union places emphasis on respect of state boundaries inherited at independence. This convenient online chapter examines intra-state conflicts from the post-Cold War world. With the foregoing discussion on intervention approaches in African conflicts, one may want to inquire about the nature of the history of intervention in African conflicts. The Role of Nationalism in Modern Intra-State Conflict. Teaching ResourcesConflict: Introduction, more than one hundred thousand peacekeepers, rethink of traditional understandings of sovereignty. 0000161553 00000 n Social conflicts, 2. Power and bad governance, traditions inherited from colonial rule and the nature of de-colonisation, have been a major source of conflict in Africa. Conflicts in Africa: Meaning, Causes, Impact and Solution In: Bercovitch ed. Considering the annexation and colonial occupation of British Cameroons as a colonial conspiracy masterminded by Britain and the West within the Cold War context to deprive the territory of its independence, British Southern Cameroons nationalists notified La Rpublique du Cameroun, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the International Court of Justice and the United Nations that the Bakassi Peninsula belongs to British Southern Cameroons.2. Okoyos (1977) work underscored the fact that whatever legitimacy colonialism possessed was derived not from any set of agreed rules or consensus, but from the monopoly of the means of coercion and violence, and by its divide-and-rule strategies aimed at intensifying the cleavages (class, tribal, religious) inherent in the social structure and at prolonging its rule. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}(); Duala-MBedy, Bonny 1984. The examples of the military and economic pacts concluded by French-speaking African leaders with France at independence are cases in point. List of interstate wars since 1945 - Wikipedia It argues that the colonial factor ought to be a consideration in attempts to address African conflicts because the roots of many post-colonial conflicts in Africa remain buried in Africas past and, specifically, in the colonisation and de-colonisation processes. Interstate warfare has been defined as military conflict between separate states over a territory. 4) Civil rights conflicts: Civil rights conflicts arise mainly over issues of participation, distribution, and legitimacy in the politics and governance of nations (Lasswell 1936). xiii-xx. And though terrorism most often takes place in conflict-affected areas, terrorist groups can launch attacks in neighboring countries and faraway cities. They can become a threat to international peace and security when the fighting spills over into neighbouring states or refugee flows upset regional stability. African problems: Any links with the past? 1993. [CDATA[// >. 6) Political transition conflicts: Mainly within states, political transition conflicts arose in many African countries out of rising tensions resulting from a stalemated transition to the democratisation of political life in the 1990s. These conflicts are similar to the Quebec Sovereignty Question in Canada and the Chechnya conflict in Russia. High-quality, standards-aligned classroom resources, lesson plans, teaching inspiration, and professional development opportunitiesall inspired by our mission that Global Civics is essential for twenty-first century citizenship. Like the UN, the OAU has mainly emphasised the conflict management approach consisting of peace-keeping forces to reduce or eliminate violence rather than the desire to address the fundamental issues which divide the parties to the conflict.

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