Abiodun Alao

Diamonds are forever ... but so also are controversies: Diamonds and the actors in Sierra Leone's civil war

While the world waits to see if the July 1999 peace agreement between the government and the rebels in Sierra Leone holds, controversies still surrounds the war that has left more than 20,000 dead, several hundreds mutilated and up to a million displaced. Most of these controversies centre on the dynamics that gave the conflict life. Extant knowledge places premium on the economic ramifications of the conflict, particularly the importance of diamonds in explaining its complexities. This article seeks an understanding of the controversies surrounding the role of diamonds in the conflict, discussing the arguments for and against various perspectives of the role of the resource. It concludes that the need to control access to diamonds, and to exploit it for personal accumulation proved crucial in explaining the attitudes of the warring factions to the conflict, to the peace moves, as well as explaining the intricacies of foreign involvement.

Brothers at War: Dissidence and Rebellion in Southern Africa

Introduction - in the beginning, there were wars . . . Angola - from bullet through ballot to an uncertain future Mozambicans at war - Renamo against the Frelimo government anti-government forces in Zimbabwe - ZIPRA dissidents and Muzorewa auxiliaries ethnicity and anti-government activities in Southern Africa counting the economic cost.

Youths in the interface of development and security

This article interrogates the link between youth, security and development in Africa and argues that the central determinant in the link is ‘governance’, especially as this implies the ability of the state to harness the productive potential of youths and to meet their demands on a number of issues. The article also asserts that the reality of a youth bulge in many African countries presents challenges (as opposed to crises), as much as opportunities for national socio-economic transformation. Besides, youths in many developing countries have been the victims of developmental experiments often tele-guided by international financial and development agencies. In its conclusion, the articles argues that efforts to address the challenges posed by youths must move from platitudinous wish-list into formulation of coherent policy agenda that is consistent with the socio-economic and political realities of individual countries; in which youths themselves active agents; and one which must be incorporated into the wider governance framework of nation-states. The issue of youth and violent conflict concerns more than youth, it is a reflection of society in crisis and hence of development itself. If a societys values, norms, customs, practices, structures and institutions are under threat and such changes in turn threaten the development of its children into youth and then adults, then that society cannot sustain itself.1 The state … the economy… are predicated on notions of adulthood; they all require the participation of adults in order to function. If youth are unable to fully make this transition to the minimal conditions of adulthood, then such structures are unsustainable and will either fracture or mutate in unforeseen ways. An understanding of the intersections between youth, violent conflict and society is a way of re-examining development and developing societies. Youth, those who engage in violence and especially those who do not, are located at the junctures between development, security, peace and conflict.2

Economic fragility and political fluidity: Explaining natural resources and conflicts

One subject that has enjoyed much interest and attention, particularly in the post-Cold War era, is natural resource-based conflicts. There are three primary reasons for this interest. First, the drastic increase in the number of such conflicts is caused, in part, by the downward spiral in the economic fortune of many states, particularly in Africa, and in part, by the structural problems of governance that exist in many of these countries. Second, many of these conflicts are related to other major security problems, especially the proliferation of small arms, the activities of warlords and the re-emergence of mercenaries. Attempts to address these problems have forced many analysts to examine more profoundly the issue of resources and conflict. Finally, resource-based conflicts are often marred in the complexities surrounding the collapse, or near collapse, of many states. From Liberia and Sierra Leone to Cambodia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the politics of resource control have played an important part in the weakening of institutional and administrative structures. This essay presents an overview of post-Cold War resource conflicts, focusing largely on how such conflicts have affected structures of governance. The essay is divided into six sections. The first examines the complexities of the link between natural resources and conflict; the second focuses on the characteristics and manifestations of post-Cold War naturalresource conflicts; the third section briefly assesses three contemporary resource-based conflicts in Liberia, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo; the fourth investigates the external dimensions of natural resource conflicts in Africa; the fifth considers how natural-resource conflicts have affected governance in Africa; and the final section briefly summarizes the main conclusions.

Cut Short for Taking Short Cuts: The Lome Peace Agreement on Sierra Leone

The July 1999 Lomé Peace Agreement, the third in the series of peace agreements signed to end Sierra Leones then eight‐year war, collapsed in May 2000, with the arrest and detention of UN peacekeepers by the members of the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF). The collapse of the agreement raised fundamental questions about the future of peace in Sierra Leone, and forced many observers to wonder whether there are peculiarities inherent in the country that frustrate peace agreements, or that the agreements themselves are defective, and should not be expected to work. There is also the additional factor of an inability of parties and mediators to the conflict to implement peace agreements either because of a lack of political will or limited resources to start the process. This article takes a critical look at the Lomé Peace Agreement and argues that its failure was due more to the desire of negotiators and a fundamentally weak government to appease the rebel faction than address the key issues underlining the conflict. It argues that the peace agreement has once again uncovered the fragility of peace processes and the role of the international community in assisting that process. Finally, it considers the wider implications of Sierra Leones failed peace process for international efforts in peacekeeping, conflict resolution and conflict management.

A comparative evaluation of the armed struggle in Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe

The end of apartheid in South Africa marked the end of the armed struggle in Southern Africa, a struggle that accounted for the transformation of five countries in the region. The objective of this study is to examine the armed struggle in three of these countries – Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Although the nature of the historical evolution of these countries made them to be different from the Lusophone territories of Angola and Mozambique, there were significant differences in the ways the armed struggle was conducted in each. Areas of convergence and divergence in the armed struggle are identified as well as those areas where the armed struggle left lasting legacies.

Africa’s Security Challenges and China’s Evolving Approach to Africa’s Peace and Security Architecture

This chapter examines the development of the African Peace and Security Architecture and how China has sought to devise approaches to security within and outside of that institutional framework. The heritage of colonialism and its impact on the viability of the African state system, coupled by efforts to develop institutions and enhance security, are reviewed. The evolution of African security arrangements to a position of ‘non-indifference’ is contrasted with the changes to China’s policies of non-intervention towards peace and security.

Islamic radicalisation and violence in Liberia

In the last two to three decades, Liberias image in Africa has oscillated from one extreme to the other. Historically, the country was seen as a beacon of hope as Africas first Independent Republic and it played its role in the African liberation process. However, 14 years of civil war have punctured this image and the attendant political and economic difficulties have removed the country from the list of countries to be envied. Importantly, the countrys political past is complex and its ethnic composition is diverse but what is often neglected as an identity issue is religion. Although Liberia is widely held as a ‘Christian nation’, largely because of the historical fact that those who established it were Christians, there is now emerging the critical dimension of Islamic concerns in the country. Such concerns could become critical to the national security of Liberia, especially if it connects to the wider sub-regional dimension of Islamic radicalisation. The central argument of this article is that the issue of Islamic radicalisation in Liberia is somewhat peculiar as it never manifested itself in the form in which others have in the sub-region. In this sense, what is referred to as radicalisation in Liberia is more the protests and advocacy of Muslims for their rights on a number of specific issues. While these can serve as triggers of radicalisation, they cannot be equated with it.