Combatants in African Conflicts

Combatants in African Conflicts

Author: Simon David Taylor

Publisher:

ISBN: 1032219645

Category: Africa

Page:

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"This book focuses on the different types of combatants in conflicts in Africa, exploring the fine lines between what might be classified as a militia in one conflict, a rebel in another, or a terrorist in a third. Drawing on the work of Carl von Clausewitz, this book provides a conceptually stable and analytically sound new typology on combatants. Analyzing the relationships between state and society, and drawing on Clausewitz's Trinity of passion, chance, and reason, the book presents a set of five types of armed actors: Professionals, Praetorians, Militias, Insurgents and Mercenaries. Each type is developed through a close reading of foundational theoretical texts, reviews of contemporary studies, and an historical analysis of their unique characteristics. Unlike a reductionist binary perspective, this typology accounts for the dynamic, complex and evolving relationships of these actors with the state and society. A typology of combatants in conflicts in Africa can provide avenues for more in-depth analysis of such conflicts, and holds implications for Security Sector Reform projects and other peace-building programmes. As such, this book will be an essential reference for scholars and students of African Politics and Military and Security Studies"--

African Conflicts and Informal Power

African Conflicts and Informal Power

Author: Mats Utas

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

ISBN: 9781848138841

Category: Political Science

Page: 266

View: 654

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In the aftermath of an armed conflict in Africa, the international community both produces and demands from local partners a variety of blueprints for reconstructing state and society. The aim is to re-formalize the state after what is viewed as a period of fragmentation. In reality, African economies and polities are very much informal in character, with informal actors, including so-called Big Men, often using their positions in the formal structure as a means to reach their own goals. Through a variety of in-depth case studies, including the DRC, Sierra Leone and Liberia, this comprehensive volume shows how important informal political and economic networks are in many of the continent's conflict areas. Moreover, it demonstrates that without a proper understanding of the impact of these networks, attempts to formalize African states, particularly those emerging from wars, will be in vain.

Combatants in African Conflicts

Combatants in African Conflicts

Author: Simon David Taylor

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 9781351065443

Category: Political Science

Page: 248

View: 449

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This book focuses on the different types of combatants in conflicts in Africa, exploring the fine lines between what might be classified as a militia in one conflict, a rebel in another, or a terrorist in a third. Drawing on the work of Carl von Clausewitz, this book provides a conceptually stable and analytically sound new typology on combatants. Analysing the relationships between state and society, and drawing on Clausewitz's Trinity of passion, chance, and reason, the book presents a set of five types of armed actors: Professionals, Praetorians, Militias, Insurgents, and Mercenaries. Each type is developed through a close reading of foundational theoretical texts, reviews of contemporary studies, and a historical analysis of their unique characteristics. Unlike a reductionist binary perspective, this typology accounts for the dynamic, complex, and evolving relationships of these actors with the state and society. A typology of combatants in conflicts in Africa can provide avenues for more in-depth analysis of such conflicts and holds implications for Security Sector Reform projects and other peace-building programmes. As such, this book will be an essential reference for scholars and students of African Politics and Military and Security Studies.

What Women Do in Wartime

What Women Do in Wartime

Author: Meredeth Turshen

Publisher: Zed Books

ISBN: UCSC:32106016479641

Category: History

Page: 204

View: 319

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This is the first book to describe and analyze the experience of women in African civil wars. A mixture of reportage, testimony and scholarship, the book includes contributions from women in Chad, Liberia, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa and Sudan. The political context of these conflicts is outlined in an introduction to each chapter. The book profiles women's responses to war, as combatants as well as victims, and describes the groups women organize in the aftermath. Examining rape and other forms of gendered political violence in African civil wars, this extraordinary volume is also about women taking action for change. It is set to become required reading for students and academics of women's, peace and African studies.

Young Female Fighters in African Wars

Young Female Fighters in African Wars

Author: Chris Coulter

Publisher: Nordic Africa Institute

ISBN: 9171066276

Category: Social Science

Page: 0

View: 617

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Challenging the stereotype of women in African wars as victims only, this book shows how in modern African wars women have often been as active as men. Female fighters are victimized, yet they are not mere victims. Girls and young women who volunteer to fight often possess quite considerable strength and independence.

Making Peace with Your Enemy

Making Peace with Your Enemy

Author: Laetitia Bucaille

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

ISBN: 9780812251104

Category: Social Science

Page: 344

View: 638

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Reconciliation between political antagonists who went to war against each other is not a natural process. Hostility toward an enemy only slowly abates and the political resolution of a conflict is not necessarily followed by the immediate pacification of society and reconciliation among individuals. Under what conditions can a combatant be brought to understand the motivations of his enemies, consider them as equals, and develop a new relationship, going so far as to even forgive them? By comparing the experiences of veterans of the South African and Franco-Algerian conflicts, Laetitia Bucaille seeks to answer this question. She begins by putting the postconflict and postcolonial order that characterizes South Africa, France, and Algeria into perspective, examining how each country provided symbolic and material rewards to the veterans and how past conflict continues to shape the present. Exploring the narratives of ex-combatants, Bucaille also fosters an understanding of their intimate experiences as well as their emotions of pride, loss, and guilt. In its comparative analysis of South Africa and Algeria, Making Peace with Your Enemy reveals a paradox. In Algeria, the rhetoric of the regime is characterized by resentment toward colonizing France but relations between individuals Reconciliationare warm. However, in South Africa, democratization was based on official reconciliation but distance and wariness between whites and blacks prevail. Despite these differences, Bucaille argues, South African, Algerian, and French ex-adversaries face a similar challenge: how to extricate oneself from colonial domination and the violence of war in order to build relationships based on trust.

Vanguard or Vandals

Vanguard or Vandals

Author: Jon Abbink

Publisher: BRILL

ISBN: 9789047407003

Category: Social Science

Page: 311

View: 630

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This book contains a range of original studies on one of the major challenges in Africa today: the controversial role of youth in politics, conflict and rebellious movements. The issue is not only the drafting of child soldiers into insurgent armies or predatory militias, as in Somalia, Sierra Leone or Congo, but, more generally, that of the problematic insertion of large numbers of young people in the socio-economic and political order of post-colonial Africa. Even educated youths are being confronted with a lack of opportunities, blocked social mobility, and despair about the future. African youth, while forming a numerical majority, largely feel excluded from power, are socio-economically marginalized, thwarted in their ambitions, and have little access to representative positions or political power.

Ending Africa's Wars

Ending Africa's Wars

Author: Roy May

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 9781317143802

Category: Political Science

Page: 258

View: 400

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Post-colonial Africa has seemingly been in an intractable state of conflict and war for a considerable period of time. This volume explores the process by which these wars were ended, discusses the lessons learnt, and examines the sustainability of recently reconciled conflicts to see how far peace solutions are permanent in this region. Ending Africa's Wars is an important and timely book for all those interested in conflict, democracy, international organizations, civil society, refugees, gender and the economic reconstruction of Africa.

The Role of Diplomacy in the Maintenance of Peace and Security in Africa by the African Union

The Role of Diplomacy in the Maintenance of Peace and Security in Africa by the African Union

Author: Fuh George Cheo

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

ISBN: 9783346771391

Category: Political Science

Page: 18

View: 119

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Essay from the year 2022 in the subject Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict, Security, grade: 3/4, , language: English, abstract: This paper is an overview of the role of the African Union in resolving conflicts in Africa through diplomacy. The work was based on a synoptical review of related literature actions and policies. An attempt was also made in classifying the different types of conflicts and related resolution strategies. Africa has been embroiled in a plethora of intra- and interstate conflicts. Most of these conflicts had a transnational character and generated consequences that had implications for regions beyond those in which they occurred. The quest for peace on the continent had remained a critical subject matter, which was at the core of the establishment of both the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and its successor, the African Union (AU). African conflicts are classified into six groups as follows: interethnic conflicts, interstate conflicts, liberation conflicts, civil rights conflicts, annexationist conflicts, and political transition conflicts. The key AU Organ for promoting peace and security on the continent is the Peace and Security Council (PSC) which is the standing decision-making organ of the AU for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflicts. The Continental Early Warning System (CEWS) is one of the pillars of the African Peace and Security Architecture Leone in the early years of the ECOWAS/ ECOWAS Cease-Fire Operation Monitoring Operation Group (ECOMOG) contributed to the consolidation of mechanisms for conflict prevention and peace building in West Africa. Africa has made remarkable progress in resolving many complex and old conflicts across the continent. Despite this progress, however, millions of people continued to be adversely affected by the consequences of conflict. It is also obvious that the peace achieved is fragile and can not be sustained in the long term, so long as the underlying causes and the needs of the affected populations are not effectively addressed.

Ex-Combatants and the Post-Conflict State

Ex-Combatants and the Post-Conflict State

Author: J. McMullin

Publisher: Springer

ISBN: 9781137312938

Category: Political Science

Page: 329

View: 148

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This book provides a critical analysis of the reintegration challenges facing ex-combatants. Based on extensive field research, it includes detailed case studies of ex-combatant reintegration in Namibia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.

Peacebuilding, Power, and Politics in Africa

Peacebuilding, Power, and Politics in Africa

Author: Devon Curtis

Publisher: Ohio University Press

ISBN: 9780821444320

Category: Political Science

Page: 360

View: 692

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Peacebuilding, Power, and Politics in Africa is a critical reflection on peacebuilding efforts in Africa. The authors expose the tensions and contradictions in different clusters of peacebuilding activities, including peace negotiations; statebuilding; security sector governance; and disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration. Essays also address the institutional framework for peacebuilding in Africa and the ideological underpinnings of key institutions, including the African Union, NEPAD, the African Development Bank, the Pan-African Ministers Conference for Public and Civil Service, the UN Peacebuilding Commission, the World Bank, and the International Criminal Court. The volume includes on-the-ground case study chapters on Sudan, the Great Lakes Region of Africa, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the Niger Delta, Southern Africa, and Somalia, analyzing how peacebuilding operates in particular African contexts. The authors adopt a variety of approaches, but they share a conviction that peacebuilding in Africa is not a script that is authored solely in Western capitals and in the corridors of the United Nations. Rather, the writers in this volume focus on the interaction between local and global ideas and practices in the reconstitution of authority and livelihoods after conflict. The book systematically showcases the tensions that occur within and between the many actors involved in the peacebuilding industry, as well as their intended beneficiaries. It looks at the multiple ways in which peacebuilding ideas and initiatives are reinforced, questioned, reappropriated, and redesigned by different African actors. A joint project between the Centre for Conflict Resolution in Cape Town, South Africa, and the Centre of African Studies at the University of Cambridge.

African Liberation

African Liberation

Author: Amos Sirleaf

Publisher: AuthorHouse

ISBN: 9781449093440

Category: Fiction

Page: 170

View: 636

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Conflict is an increasing threat to national and international security and a major challenge to development. It is significant to acknowledge that civil conflict has impoverished countries in every major region of the world, with specific emphasis on Africa. Civil Conflict has wiped out the achievements of decades of economic and social development. In case of Liberia which is the main objective of this study, the 25 years civil conflict not only wiped out the achievements of decades of economic and social development, but destroyed thousands of lives, the physical assets of the country, and disrupted trade links which devastated the fabrics of the Liberian society. The Liberian violent conflict leaves a legacy of militarized, guerilla warfare leadership culture, divided societies, widespread displacement, and decimated institutional capacity. For many Liberians, dealing with devastation of war is a bitter experience that will never be forgotten. The present Liberian political context is extremely imperative in any transition from post-conflict situation to a more stable and secured environment that will facilitate the national reconciliation of farmer political adversaries and combatants, and lead to a more stable and secured environment that will enable refugees to return to their homes areas and permit the commencement of urgent rehabilitation effort such as the rebuilding of the administrative infrastructure of the country, such as the core ministeries', legal system, especially the courts, and the opening and operation of ports, air ports, harbors, telecommunication facilities, and electricity. For these urgent post-conflict rehabilitation actions to take place however, it was necessary for an elected government to be in place with the clear mandate to govern especially where as in Liberia, the conflict originated from a struggle for political power between contending ethnic groups and their armed supporters. This scenario has not been a reality for the Liberian people. The greatest challenge to the Liberian people, however, is the post-civil conflict reconstruction, rehabilitation, and recovery, indeed for countries emerging from prolong violent conflict. This study will be focusing on new system which will require the United States, the International Community, The European Union, The EEC, and other Non-Governmental Organizations, social, political, and economic cohesion as a pre-condition for reconstruction, rehabilitation, reconciliation, and recovery. As a practitioner, specialist, and a 21st century student of politics of life, Post-independence Black-Africa political and historic, cultural and Liberian political scientist, international political systems, comparative international political problems and global political cultural diversity, I am cognizant, and I do indeed care about Liberia /Africa in global conflicts that have profound effects on Africa, and implications which lead to war, instability, and international tension as well as about events which lead to equitable interdependence, integration, peace, improvement of quality of life, reduction of exploitation, imperialism human rights violation perpetrated by post-independence African leadership. Because I am a Black-African-Liberian, I do care about these national, international, regional, state of affairs that specifically affect Africa in general and Liberia in particular, I have tried over the years to make some life time attempt to make some scholastic decisions as it reflects on my research, to advance procedures in conflict management and resolution theories about systematizing my observations and improving my knowledge and skills of pre-conflict analysis of Africa in general and post-conflict analysis of Liberia in particular.