Towards a Framework of Conflict Resolution in Africa

Towards a Framework of Conflict Resolution in Africa

Medhane Tadesse 

This paper is a brief analysis of the structural issues underpinning of conflicts and their resolution. In doing this it attempts to provide some general do's and don't for conflict resolution in Africa. Broadly speaking Africa faces many security challenges, and this paper identifies the key challenges with regional dimensions as:

* Political and historical foundations of the state;
* Legacies of war and militarization;
* Ecological and environmental problems;
* International security Challenges;

I. Key Issues

1. Confronting the state

Any serious conflict resolution initiative needs to confront the nature of the African state, which is the major locus of political and socio-economic crisis, for several reasons. Most states in Africa don't represent the interest and character of all their populations. The state, its institutions and rules and regulations are highly contested. A state, which is a contested terrain in this sense, suffers from political instability and institutional disarray and poses real challenges for reform and democratic transition. The fight over the state in the past decade and a half has been at once violent and so disabling that, state institutions are weak and their legitimacy is highly contested. Governments run by small elite groups with partisan agendas and militarized conception of security are sources of turmoil and less suitable for conflict resolution. Most of these states have yet to create inclusive, representative and legitimate political processes and systems. The gap between the state and society is wide. Transforming the nature and identity of the state will greatly advance the cause of peace and democracy, hence facilitate conflict resolution. Might it be better to deal with the nature of the state, settling it first? If so the focus should be on creating representative, legitimate, credible political processes, a major prerequisite to form strong and well governed states. It might then be much easier to avert and resolve most of the conflicts in the sub-region, as this will help create and shape relatively grounded, strong and possibly well-governed states.

2. Confronting regional unstable power hierarchies

In many ways Africa, particularly some of its sub-regions are a prisoner of history and geography. Whether Africa is geography or ethnography aside, national and regional structural imperatives seem to have dictated the proliferation of weak and fragile states and political systems. Major structural shortfalls and the peopling and history of regions seem to have pre-determined the eruption of successive wars for generations and the continued prevalence of violent conflicts. Age-old strategic concerns such as control over the Nile waters and access to ports are still relevant to Egypt and Ethiopia respectively as they were causes of major wars hundred years back, a major feature that shaped the Horn of Africa. Similarly, in North-East Africa the Christian and Muslim wars, which have been raging for many hundred years, are still a major feature, only being fought in different forms and techniques, and global alliances. It is also a function of the internal religious, ethnic and cultural divides combined with shared transboundary resources. Another structural lodgam is evident too: contested and undemarcated borders. Most of the borders are undemarcated or arbitrary and disputed and internal conflicts invariably draw in neighboring states, creating undeclared regional wars. This is compounded by the lack of a clearly defined power nexus has contributed to the absence of a stable regional peace and security order. Itself a result of weak states floating over deeply flawed structural foundations. The vulnerability to conflict is probably aggravated by the internal power structure of the sub regions, such as in West Africa having a strong but not well governed country, Nigeria or North East Africa lacking an internal perfect hegemon but standing adjacent to Egypt. A major contributory factor to instability not totally unrelated to the discussion above is militarization in all its dimensions.

3. Confronting the legacies of recent wars

Majority of Africa’s sub-regions are heavily militarized zones. Many countries in the continent maintain substantial armed forces and security organizations, and many of them have themselves emerged from a background of the army or liberation fronts. The most obvious legacy of former or nearby conflicts is the availability of weapons and the intimacy (in terms of culture and career) associated with it. The complexity of this problem is compounded by the militarization of the whole communities mainly along national borders of several regions. This is glaringly evident in some conflict systems such as the Mano River in West Africa, the Great Lakes region and the IGAD sub-region. Throughout the Horn, from Darfur to Somalia, certain ethnic groups have literally become tribes in arms, their social structure and even sense of identity closely bound with their military organization and the AK 47. It has also resulted in the political cultures of militarism, evolving a culture, which gave precedence to martial values and gave short shift to compromises, mercantilism, and civic values. If one wants to understand why conflict is perpetuated in some African countries look at the course and outcome of previous conflicts. Militarized political culture is not only the dominant feature of states and organized ethnicity, in several regions societies are accustomed to a certain level of violence, ranging from organized armed clashes to inter-communal raids and disputes.

A relatively unique, albeit globally- unusual form of governance characterizes some countries in Africa, which is post-liberation militarization. Although they espouse progressive agendas, it is in the nature of liberation movements to operate covertly, maintain high levels of secrecy, be pre-occupied with internal and external security, place great emphasis on organization, hold dogmatic military and political philosophies, and give respect to authority and hierarchy. Equally intrinsic to liberation movements is a concern with force, both outwardly directed at the enemy (which is all to frequently defined as any organized group which does not give it support) and as the ultimate means to maintain the discipline of its members. Martial values, and in particular strength, fighting ability and bravery, are highly esteemed. Security systems are at the heart of political power and this is particularly visible in the Horn of African region. Hence, the prevalence of a special kind of post-liberation regimes in Africa, at times, drastically different styles, aggravates the problem of militarization which defines one particular context to deal with in an informed and strategic manner. Indeed, an enduring factor that contributes to conflict is the unpredictability and militancy of the state. Legacies of war combined with militarized cultures have the tendency to turn minor disputes (such as over grazing land and water) into unmanageable violent conflicts. Dealing with the widespread armed consciousness in all its dimensions, therefore, becomes ever more pivotal.

4.Concluding remarks

The message of this conceptual memo is simple. Scratch a little bit deeper and clean the dust underneath otherwise conflicts in Africa will continue to develop the capacity of self-reproduction. Whatever degree of good will and magnanimity is displayed by current governments and political elite’s conflict will increase. Any progress towards conflict resolution will largely depend on a new push on demilitarization, security sector reform and the design and formulation of national security strategies. However, the approach of the international community to date indicates just how little have been learned.

Endnote

1.  Most of the analysis in this memo is drawn from papers presented by the same author in Kampala, Uganda in 2007, Lake Kivu Rwanda 2008 and for the Tswalu Dialogue, South Africa May 2007. To some extent this paper is also an extract of the chapter on Overcoming Challenges to Security Sector Reform in Africa: In Challenges to SSR in the Horn of Africa CPRD/ISS Monograph Series No.135, May 2007.