Global IssuesAuthor and Page information
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Africa has become an attractive and profitable dumping ground for nations and arm manufacturers eager to get rid of weapon stocks made superfluous by the end of the Cold War or by technological developments.
— Center for Defense Information weekly update1, November 4, 1999
Conflicts in Africa—Introduction
Last updated Monday, September 08, 2008.
There have been over 9.5 million refugees and hundreds and thousands of people have been slaughtered in Africa from a number of conflicts and civil wars. If this scale of destruction and fighting was in Europe, then people would be calling it World War III with the entire world rushing to report, provide aid, mediate and otherwise try to diffuse the situation. This article explores why Africa has been largely ignored and what some of the root causes of the problems are.
Read “Conflicts in Africa—Introduction” to learn more.
A Comparison With Kosovo
Last updated Monday, August 20, 2001.
The international media, NATO leaders and others were very vocal about the plight of the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and insisted on a new humanitarian based model of military intervention. Because the western mainstream media had so much rhetoric about this new humanitarian nature of NATO, it is worth making some comparisons here to see if and how that has been applied to Africa.
Read “A Comparison With Kosovo” to learn more.
The Democratic Republic of Congo
Last updated Thursday, March 27, 2008.
The conflict in the DRC (formerly known as Zaire) has involved seven nations. There have been a number of complex reasons, including conflicts over basic resources such as water, access and control over rich minerals and other resources and various political agendas. This has been fueled and supported by various national and international corporations and other regimes which have an interest in the outcome of the conflict.
Read “The Democratic Republic of Congo” to learn more.
Nigeria and Oil
Last updated Saturday, July 03, 2004.
The Niger Delta in Nigeria has been the attention of environmentalists, human rights activists and fair trade advocates around the world. The trial and hanging of environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other members of the Ogoni ethnic minority made world-wide attention. So too did the non-violent protests of the Ogoni people. The activities of large oil corporations such as Mobil, Chevron, Shell, Elf, Agip etc have raised many concerns and criticisms. Oil, which could potentially have allowed Nigeria to be one of the wealthiest countries in Africa has instead led it to become one of the poorest.
Read “Nigeria and Oil” to learn more.
Sierra Leone
Last updated Monday, July 23, 2001.
Sierra Leone has seen serious and grotesque human rights violations since 1991 when the civil war erupted. According to Human Rights Watch, over 50,000 people have been killed to date, with over one million people having been displaced. There have been numerous factors contributing to problems such as the the diamond connection, the gross abuses committed by both rebel and government forces, and the problems of the current peace treaty.
Read “Sierra Leone” to learn more.
Conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea
Last updated Wednesday, December 20, 2000.
30 years of war and conflict as Eritrea attempted to gain independence, finally resulted in an April 1993 internationally monitored referendum, where 98.5% of the registered voters voted. 99.8% of the votes were for independence, although the borders were not defined clearly. While the two nations seemed to get on fairly well, relations deteriorated into war a couple of years after Eritrea introduced its own currency in 1997. War again resulted over what seemed to be a minor border dispute in May 1998.
Read “Conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea” to learn more.
Rwanda
Last updated Wednesday, October 25, 2006.
It seems that the cause of the Rwanda genocide has typically been explained in simplified terms, such as ancient tribal hatreds, omitting many of the deeper and also modern causes, such as international economic policies, power politics and corruption of the elite, etc. which are also common contributing causes of problems elsewhere in the world today. This article explores the deeper causes of genocide in Rwanda.
Read “Rwanda” to learn more.
AIDS in Africa
Last updated Sunday, February 17, 2008.
One conflict in Africa that has taken a long time to get appropriate media attention, with regards to its severity, is that of the conflict of ordinary African people with HIV and AIDS. It is said to be killing more people than the current conflicts.
Read “AIDS in Africa” to learn more.
Africa Links for more information
Last updated Monday, May 05, 2008.
Read “Africa Links for more information” to learn more.
Online Sources:
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Author and Page Information
- Created: Monday, July 05, 1999
- Last Updated: Thursday, March 27, 2008