| dc.description.abstract | The Third World In general and Africa have witnessed some of the most
violent conflicts SInce their independence. In Africa, these conflicts have
claimed the lives of millions leaving many others as displaced people and
refugees in neighbouring countries. From Liberia to Somalia, and from Angola
to Burundi, there has been death, outright carnage, the destruction of property
and institutions, and environmental decay as a result of conflict and instability.
That conflicts constitute one of the greatest challenges currently facing the
African continent is not debatable.While more internal conflicts have occurred in Africa in the post-Cold War era than in any other major world region, the continent is becoming increasingly marginalized in US and European foreign policy, Declining resources for
engagement, including development aid, coupled with a fatigue borne of the
complexity and intractability of conflicts in Africa has lead to a situation where
it is difficult for policy makers to engage in preventing or ending armed
conflicts.In the US, the "Mogadishu Syndrome", where 18 American soldiers on a
humanitarian mission in Somalia in 1992 were dragged by irate mobs on the
streets of Mogadishu, continues to affect its political will for engagement in
Africa. This has seriously limited many countries' ability to make credible
policy commitments in this area. At the same time, peace enforcement and
humanitarian intervention have drawn resources and attention away from
assisting countries in Afriea that have a chance to develop in benign direction.
Although armed conflicts have been brought to an end in Namibia, South
Africa, Mozambique, Angola and Ethiopia, the perception of conflict in - and
the record of the international response to them is grim. This perception of
"Afro-pessimism" on the part of the international community borne out of
widespread disenchantment with the mixed record of conflict management
achievement in Africa means that Africa must look within itself for the resolve
and the commitment to settle its conflicts. | en |
