Interrelated causes of African intrastate wars and relevant peace missions

Abstract

Africa has always been affected by external influences and factors such as Western colonial rule and since the 1960s by the liberation processes of most states. The changing nature of African post-colonial politics led to growing conflicts because of power devolution and violent regime changes by military coups d’état. Causal factors of recent intrastate wars are diverse and complex, but mostly relate to belligerents and non-state actors having greed and grievance issues, causing wars for resources and unjust exploitation, elite power struggles and political exclusion, ethnic and religious differences. Poor leadership, absence of democratic principles, identity politics and corruption contribute to violent conflicts. Most causes reinforce one another and are compounded by continuous violence when belligerents are dissatisfied with weak regimes, while both belligerents and regimes break peace accords, as empirical research proved. Changing alliances in Africa are a normal occurrence in enduring conflicts such as in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and the Central African Republic. Consequently, two-thirds of global conflict currently occurs in Africa and the majority of United Nations peace missions are hosted in these three states, where South Africa participates in peace missions. Causes of recent intrastate wars are first discussed in general, and then in particular in these states, relating to lessons learnt from peacekeeping experiences to counteract some of the causal factors.