Debate: African Conflicts

[Conrad_Jalowski]

The current problems in the African continent such as major tribal conflicts, civil war in particular regions and social disequilibrium all arose during the departure of the colonial and imperialistic powers. When the hegemony of the European powers largely disintegrated and dissolved in the African continent, the major colonial powers agreed to a post-colonial order of African nations with artificial boundary lines or demarcations without considering the ethnic and tribal identities of each particular region as well as by neglecting other cultural concerns and the particular needs of autochthonous tribes and groups. With the devolution of centralized, colonial authority and with unsolved tensions based on tribal and racial identities, the descent into social chaos and civil unrest became unavoidable. With the lack of a stable economic market and the lack of a centralized and well balanced political order in particular regions and locations, the economic infrastructure of such regions deteriorated in a rapid manner leading to a climate of hostilities, terror and aggression. With the primitive economies and the poor administration or governance of certain African regions that existed during the age of the vast colonial and imperialistic empires and that continued after the devolution of central authority with the withdrawal of the European powers, tribal and racial tensions, civil order and civil union quickly degenerated into organized brigandage or organized criminalism.

Without central organization and order, the mantle of authority was upheld by autonomous warlords, vagrants and other such criminals. Due to internal divisions, these regions lack a stable foundation and harbor a weak national framework and therefore such regions and zones are fissiparous. Large portions of certain African nations are embroiled in internecine conflicts and fratricidal wars. In the case of civil war and internal chaos, national identity is lost to tribal and ethnic identities which has resulted in highly destabilized and decentralized regions and zones.