The objective of this paper was to investigate the causes of conflict in Africa and the role played by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in ensuring political order during its period of existence. The study employed content analysis of historical documents, academic works, Internet sources and also current conflict situations in Africa as a baseline for its argument. The results showed that, despite the role of ethnicity as a source of conflicts in Africa, political and economic factors are the major sources of tension on the continent. The OAU, this paper argues, could not have a tangible impact in its attempt to ensure peace and stability on the continent, hence the functional shift in the role of Sub-regional Organisations in the continent in the area of peace and security. Notwithstanding its logistical and financial weaknesses, the Organisation failed to understand the sources of tension of most of these conflicts so as to map out a more pragmatic, multi- sectoral, and multi- dimensional approach to manage and resolve them. Factors such as the need for a more pragmatic and realistic continental policies involving good governance and genuine decentralisation were identified as crucial elements of consideration if Africa is to enjoy a sound, stable, peaceful, political and economic environment in the new millennium.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Background
1.1. The Global Conflict Situation
1.2. The Conflict Situation in Africa
1.3. Conflict Transformation Model (CTM)
Chapter 2: Causes of Conflicts in Africa
2.1. The Search for Sources and Answers
2.1.1. The Colonial Legacy and the Ethnic Factor
2.1.2. The Political Dimension─The Role of the Elites
2.1.3. The Economic Dimension
Chapter 3: The Organisation of African Unity
3. 1. Introduction
3. 2. The Charter of the OAU
3. 3. Objectives of the OAU
3. 4. Principles of the OAU
3. 5. Structure and Organs of the OAU
3.5.1. The Assembly of Heads of State Government
3.5.2. The Council of Ministers
3.5.3. The Secretariat
3.5.4. The Commission of Mediation, Arbitration and Conciliation: Organ for conflict resolution
3.6. Approaches to Conflict Resolution by OAU
3.6.1. Summit Diplomacy
3.6.2. Ad Hoc Committees
3.6.3. Presidential Mediation
3.6.4. The use of Good Offices
3.7. Assessment of OAU─Application of Theory
Chapter 4: Sub-regional Organisations and Peace in Africa - The Case of ECOWAS Intervention in Liberia
4.1. West Africa─the Black House of Africa
4.2. The Liberian Civil War─Underlying Factors
4.2.1. The Role of the Liberian Elites
4.2.2. The Economic Dimension
4.2.3. The External Connection
4.3. The Role of ECOWAS
4.4. Analysis of success
Chapter 5: Conclusion: Peace and Stability in Africa - Analysis and Prospects for the Future
Research Objectives and Key Themes
This paper investigates the underlying causes of conflicts in Africa and evaluates the effectiveness of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in maintaining political order and resolving regional disputes. By applying the Conflict Transformation Model, it seeks to determine why the OAU struggled to achieve sustainable peace and examines the shift toward sub-regional interventions, specifically the ECOWAS role in Liberia, to propose more holistic conflict resolution frameworks.
- The historical and structural causes of African civil wars.
- The institutional strengths and weaknesses of the OAU.
- The application of the Conflict Transformation Model (CTM).
- The effectiveness of sub-regional security arrangements (ECOWAS).
- The necessity of multi-sectoral and inclusive peace processes.
Excerpt from the Book
2.1.1. The Colonial Legacy and the Ethnic Factor
The modernisation of present African society is faced with many obstacles. In the 1950s and 1960s, public opinion viewed political independence as the jumping-off point for progress, the key that would open the floodgates of heaven. One after the other, many countries achieved independence, but independence did not bring the necessary conditions for improving the lots of the people. It was quite the opposite. As the majority of countries gained independence from their colonial masters they increased their capacity for war. More arms, more misery, more endemic disease and more failures in development programmes became the norm. As Rene Dumont aptly commented, “Black Africa started on the wrong foot”, on the wrong foot because independence brought with it seeds of conflicts, either inherited from the colonial power or inter-ethnic relations in terms of access to power (Kamba, et.al in Adedeji, 1999:55).
There are objective factors in the structural makeup of the African state that have continued to underscore the salience of ethnicity and constitute inherent conditions which influence the outbreak of conflicts in the continent. The widely acknowledged notion of the artificiality of the African state has ramifications, which extend beyond the historic fact that African states are alien creations with geometrical boundaries that were determined by imperial ambitions rather than ethnic, linguistic or local political considerations. For within the colonial administrative set which later metamorphosed into independent “nations” there were only a few decades before independent sovereignty, a varying number of more or less disparate societies, each with a distinct political system, and with different intersocietal relationships. Hence, at independence, the African state lacked a coherent and functional unity; it was consequently fragile.
Summary of Chapters
Chapter 1: Background: This chapter contextualizes the global conflict landscape and introduces the Conflict Transformation Model as a framework for analyzing African instability.
Chapter 2: Causes of Conflicts in Africa: This section explores how colonial history, elite political manipulation, economic inequality, and external interventions fuel protracted conflicts on the continent.
Chapter 3: The Organisation of African Unity: This chapter evaluates the OAU's institutional structure, its charter principles, and its approaches to mediation, identifying why its reliance on state-centric diplomacy often failed.
Chapter 4: Sub-regional Organisations and Peace in Africa - The Case of ECOWAS Intervention in Liberia: This chapter analyzes the functional shift toward sub-regional organizations using the intervention in Liberia as a case study for evaluating peacebuilding success.
Chapter 5: Conclusion: Peace and Stability in Africa - Analysis and Prospects for the Future: The final chapter summarizes the need for democratic reform, decentralized governance, and inclusive, multi-sectoral peace strategies to ensure a stable future for the continent.
Keywords
Conflict resolution, Organisation of African Unity, ECOWAS, Liberia, Conflict Transformation Model, Ethnic conflict, Political instability, Sub-regional organizations, Peacekeeping, Governance, Civil war, Resource-based conflict, Democratization, Structural violence, African security.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The research examines the root causes of civil conflicts in Africa and assesses the role of regional organizations, specifically the OAU and ECOWAS, in managing and resolving these conflicts.
Which theoretical model does the author employ?
The author utilizes Kumar Rupesinghe’s Conflict Transformation Model (CTM), which emphasizes a multi-track and multi-sectoral approach to addressing conflicts rather than purely state-centric or military solutions.
What are the primary factors contributing to conflict in Africa according to the text?
The text identifies political and economic factors as major sources of tension, including the colonial legacy of artificial borders, autocratic leadership, ethnic manipulation, and resource-based conflicts.
Why does the author argue that the OAU was often ineffective?
The author points to the OAU’s weak charter, its strict adherence to the principle of non-interference, a lack of financial and logistical resources, and its failure to involve local stakeholders in peace processes as primary reasons for its ineffectiveness.
What is the significance of the ECOWAS case study in Liberia?
The Liberia case demonstrates a shift toward sub-regional security enforcement. The author analyzes this intervention to show how regional organizations can sometimes be more effective than continental bodies by utilizing closer geographic and political leverage.
What does the author suggest is the key to lasting stability in Africa?
Lasting stability requires democratic reform, genuine decentralization, the inclusion of civil society in peace processes, and the empowerment of local actors as primary stakeholders in their own peace efforts.
How does the author characterize the role of elites in African conflicts?
The author argues that elites often manipulate ethnic and economic divisions to serve parochial interests, maintain power, and benefit from resource exploitation, thereby perpetuating state failure.
What is the author's stance on the "wind of change" regarding democratization?
The author remains skeptical, noting that while many countries have held elections, these often remain formalistic and fail to establish deep-rooted democratic culture, allowing autocratic leaders to retain power.
- Citar trabajo
- Marvin Ankrah (Autor), 2004, Conflict Resolution in Africa - The Case of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/201977
