War and Conflict in Africa (ePub)

After the Cold War, Africa earned the dubious distinction of beingthe world's most bloody continent. But how can we explain thisproliferation of armed conflicts? What caused them and what weretheir main characteristics? And what did the world's governments doto stop them?

In addressing these and other questions, Paul Williams offersthe first comparative assessment of more than two hundred armedconflicts which took place in Africa between 1990 and 2009 - fromthe continental catastrophe in the Democratic Republic of Congo tothe environmental disaster in the Niger Delta and mass atrocitiesin the Sudan. Taking a broad comparative approach to examine thepolitical contexts in which these wars occurred, he explores thekey ingredients that provoked them and the major internationalresponses undertaken to deliver lasting peace.

Part I, Contexts provides an overview of the most importantattempts to measure the number and scale of Africa's armedconflicts and provides a conceptual and political sketch of theterrain of struggle upon which these wars were waged.

Part II, Ingredients analyses the role of five widely debatedfeatures of Africa's wars: the dynamics of neopatrimonial systemsof governance; the construction and manipulation of ethnicidentities; questions of sovereignty and self-determination; aswell as the impact of natural resources and religion.

Part III, Responses, discusses four major internationalreactions to Africa's wars: attempts to build a new institutionalarchitecture to help promote peace and security on the continent;this architecture's two main policy instruments, peacemakinginitiatives and peacekeeping operations; and efforts to develop thecontinent.

War and Conflict in Africa will be essential reading forall students of international peace and security studies as well asAfrica's international relations.