Post Cold War Africa Inter State Conflict Research Paper

Post Cold War Africa Inter State Conflict - Research Paper Example The African continent has witnessed great disparities between the rich and the poor. Unemployment and social insecurities make it easy for any powerful individual to breed hatred and start intrastate wars. Despite this, there has been a progressive global decline in political violence since the end of the cold war probably due to the increased emphasis on peacekeeping and peace building activities3. Africa is a potentially volatile continent with a couple of unstable governments. The Berlin conference opened up the continent for division amongst major western powers who created artificial boundaries without considering the existent traditional modes of government. To consolidate their power, the colonialists destroyed the cultural and traditional symbols of power, but the large expanse of the African continent became ungovernable because of limited human and capital resources4. The divide and rule policy employed to control Africans sowed seeds of bitterness and discontent, which con tinue to cause major intrastate conflicts. Despite imposing the western culture and way of life on Africans, western colonialists did not empower Africans with the right quality of education, culture, and economic infrastructure for effective governance and stability5. After independence, most African countries lacked effective systems of governance, economic independence, and were left without direction. Africans lacked self-direction because they had been equipped with useless skills. They could not rebuild the traditional power structures nor institute economic and social development essential for stability. Artificial boundaries crammed diverse ethnic people with different traditional values, practices, and cultures together. The social strife experiences and lack of national economic opportunities deprived majority of Africans the bond of nationalism present in developed countries of the world6. A glaring example is countries colonized by the British who have failed to develop strong national identities, cultural integrity, and social cohesion essential for national stability and progress7. Majority of the African leaders who ascended to power after Africa got independence were unequipped and unsuitable for leadership. This has continued to date with majority of them being overly ambitious and corrupt. The absence of effective independent social and political institutions of governance has made political leaders too powerful, often exploiting their authority to amass assets for their own financial gain. Because of their past crimes, these leaders go to great lengths to remain in power at the expense of their people. In the past, they used single party leadership oppressing many citizens. Corrupt and inefficient regimes contributed to development of intrastate wars with many unnecessary deaths, pain, and suffering8. After independence, most African states created strong state police departments and military forces. Corrupt leaders and regimes illegally use these forces to consolidate their power through ruthless crackdown of any opposition9. Sustained oppression, lack of civil freedoms, and poor economic growth lead to instability due to gross violations of basic human rights10. Many African state police and military police do not uphold basic human rights for their people