APA Research Paper

Causes of Wars and Conflicts in Africa and their Solution

Abstract

Africa is facing decade long conflicts which are not claiming lives of innocent Africans, but also proving to be a great hurdle towards economic, social and political stability in the region. This paper has pointed out some of the most significant factors which are causing and perpetuating the conflicts in the region. Players like regional and continental organizations, neighboring countries, local governments of Africa as well as global players like USA, EU and China need to work together to bring a long-lasting piece in the region.

Discussion

World Peace Day which UN established in its resolution in 1982 is celebrated globally and highlights the worldwide efforts towards conflict resolution and peace building. This day pose a great significance to the continent of Africa where most of conflicts due to political and sociality instability takes place. Some conflicts in Africa are decades old and still going on, with limited or no solution at all. According to some experts on the subject, most of the conflicts are inherent in the way of doing things in Africa.

Conflicts in Africa: An Overview

Conflicts in Africa cannot be classified easily in a categorical way as can be seen below, there are numerous kinds of conflicts that are taking place in the continent of Africa.

Interstate conflicts: such as the Ethio-Eritrean conflict.

Interstate conflicts that are taking place within an internationally recognized boundary of a state such as conflicts in Algeria, Somalia, Senegal and Angolan civil war.

Conflicts that are spread over and affected number of countries such as conflicts in West and Central Africa.

Potential conflicts like over Nile River or other trans-boundary water resources.

In Africa, most of the conflicts erupt because of clashes that take place between/among armed groups over gaining access to resources such as encroachment by one group on the lands of another. In some instances, disputes which emerged in an era of cold war that were a result of battles which African proxies fought (such as conflicts in Mozambique and Angola) have driven some conflicts over lands and resources. In some instances, unacceptable or unmarked borders have also sparked conflicts between countries (such as Libya-Chad, Cameroun-Nigeria, Ethiopia-Eritrea). Exclusion from power sharing and poor governance has also caused groups to organize rebellion against the government which have ultimately resulted in a conflict (Bercovitch, 2005).

If we analyze the contexts and causes of all these conflicts, we can conveniently conclude that all the areas where conflicts have taken place in the past or currently taking place are characterized by economic stagnation, deep poverty, and lack of hope for the better future on the part of people living in conflict ridden areas. A good number of investigative journalists, western and local both, have hold elite class of all the African countries which are plagued by conflict responsible and have provided concrete evidence about their involvement in sparking and perpetuating all these conflicts. This made governments directly responsible for almost all the conflicts due to their bad governance as well as protecting ...