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6 African conflicts Around the same time as the Balkan Wars shook Europe, a wave of genocidal conflicts rippled through the African continent. They displayed patterns previously not characteristic of warfare in general and tribal warfare in particular. While violence, civil unrest, insurgencies and civil wars had been a recurring feature in many countries of the African continent, since the late 1980s, a number of large-scale and long-running conflicts of immense brutality, increasingly involving the civilian population, both women (as most numerous victims of
(2009) have written about, and this is a very American story, which I would be keen to hear the authors reflect more on. Affleck’s story draws heavily on traditions of adventure stories, such as Tarzan or Indiana Jones. His visits to the Congo, where others are unable (or unwilling, or afraid) to go, can be read in this way. Africa, and especially African conflicts, have become a frontier. In the absence of new places to ‘discover’, the extremes of life and death, danger
In the early twenty-first century, children fathered by foreign soldiers during and after conflicts are often associated directly with gender-based violence. This book investigates the situations of children born of war (CBOW) since the Second World War, provides a historical synthesis that moves beyond individual case studies, and explores circumstances across time and geopolitical location. The currently used definitions and categorisations of CBOW are presented together with an overview of some key groups of CBOW. Specific conflict areas are chosen as key case studies on the basis of which several core themes are explored. These conflicts include the Second World War (1939-1945) with the subsequent post-war occupations of Germany and Austria (1945-1955). The Vietnam War (1955-1975), the Bosnian War (1992-1995), some African Conflicts of the 1990s and early 2000s, in particular in Rwanda (1994) and Uganda (1988-2006), are also examined. In the case studies, the experiences of the children are explored against the background of the circumstances of their conception. For example, the situation of the so-called Bui Doi, children of American soldiers and Vietnamese mothers is examined. The experiences of Amerasian CBOW who were adopted into the United States as infants following the Operation Babylift and those who moved as young adults following the American Homecoming Act are juxtaposed. The book also looks into the phenomenon of children fathered by UN peacekeeping personnel as a starting point for a discussion of current developments of the international discourse on CBOW.
Epilogue Children born of war: lessons learnt? CBOW are a global phenomenon. It is likely that the scale of this phenomenon will never be fully comprehended, as there are many reasons that account for the fact that data about children fathered by foreign soldiers and born to local mothers will remain inaccurate and incomplete. Despite this reservation with regard to exact figures, the analysis of the chosen case studies – the Second World War and its post-war occupations, the Vietnam War, the Bosnian Wars, sub-Saharan African conflicts and UN peacekeeping
and then became President in 1964. Kenyatta had been a long-time pan-Africanist and was involved in planning the 1945 Manchester Conference. 4 Finally, Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere began to rise in prominence on the continental stage. Nyerere was also a committed pan-Africanist, and Tanzania was very supportive of OAU liberation activities while also challenging the OAU’s stance on non-intervention. 5 African conflicts and the reaction of the nascent OAU The conflicts that emerged in Africa after the creation of the OAU were predominantly dealt with
narratives about human rights abuses and insecurity in order to establish external legitimacy. A total of 121 FDLR press releases and communiqués published on the FDLR website between January 2001 and March 2009 are examined using critical discourse analysis. Trends and patterns within the press releases are mapped to establish meanings across texts, and are then analysed in relation to the historical and political context of the FDLR’s knowledge production. The chapter offers some concluding remarks on the way in which armed groups engaged in African conflicts
This book explores the evolving African security paradigm in light of the multitude of diverse threats facing the continent and the international community today and in the decades ahead. It challenges current thinking and traditional security constructs as woefully inadequate to meet the real security concerns and needs of African governments in a globalized world. The continent has becoming increasingly integrated into an international security architecture, whereby Africans are just as vulnerable to threats emanating from outside the continent as they are from home-grown ones. Thus, Africa and what happens there, matters more than ever. Through an in-depth examination and analysis of the continent’s most pressing traditional and non-traditional security challenges—from failing states and identity and resource conflict to terrorism, health, and the environment—it provides a solid intellectual foundation, as well as practical examples of the complexities of the modern African security environment. Not only does it assess current progress at the local, regional, and international level in meeting these challenges, it also explores new strategies and tools for more effectively engaging Africans and the global community through the human security approach.
is that all conflict in Africa is tribal or that “tribal conflicts are fragmenting Africa’s nations” with the unspoken acceptance that identity-related violence is simply a way of life.2 “It is Africa, after all,” so goes the common refrain. This dismissive and simpleminded view not only ignores the complex nature of African conflict, but excuses the political 36 African security in the twenty-first century and economic culpability critical to fueling and sustaining the problem of ethnic, racial, religious, sectarian, or communal violence across the continent
increasingly being accepted as part of the global community and steadily acknowledged as playing a role in developing global solutions. All of this will lead to the emergence of greater opportunities for tackling the continent’s most pressing security challenges in the decades ahead. Serious obstacles and pitfalls still will need to be overcome, but this harsh reality should not dissuade one from trying. The evolving nature of African conflict Violent conflict is at the center of African security challenges. It results in immense human suffering, disrupts economic
-related sexual violence (CRSV) has increasingly made the news headlines in recent years, the children conceived as a result of the atrocities have not found their way onto the front pages of the newspapers or the desks of the Whitehall civil servants or non-governmental organisation (NGO) advisors on humanitarian intervention. Since the 1990s – the time of the mass rapes of the Balkan Wars and the numerous African conflicts, epitomised by the Rwandan genocide with its previously unimaginable acts of sexualised violence – rape as a weapon of war has received the attention of