Insurgencies and climate change induced conflicts in the eastern and southern African regions: examining the role of religious and traditional leaders in prevention and mitigation
Certain conditions, such as pre-existing armed conflict, latent conflicts and conditions that predispose the population to armed conflict are necessary for climate change to increase the risk or probability of armed conflict.
Pastoralism, boundaries and disputes
This paper analyses the conflict between the Dinka Malual and Riziegat tribes over a small strip of land located in Kiir/Bahr al Arab, now called “the 14-Mile”. The paper examines the circumstances behind the creation of the 14-Mile by posing questions on whether the 14-Mile was a grazing corridor or a border line.
Religion and conflict
This paper was prompted by the questions in the sub-title: Can well-meant external religion provoke conflict, and can well-understood internal religion promote conflict resolution? It explores why external religion tends to cause conflict, and how internal religion can help to resolve conflict.
Southern African anchor state
This paper considers the potential future role of South Africa as an anchor state in Africa, whose legitimacy and credibility – in spite of domestic constraints – is underwritten by a strategic commitment to maintaining regional peace and security. To achieve this, the paper draws upon the “hard” and “soft” power dichotomy first alluded to […]
Perpetuation of instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (English)
The current instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) can be traced back to late former President Mobutu Sese Seko’s rule during the late 1980s. The country’s economic depression was exacerbated by the end of the Cold War in 1991, leading to disengagement with the international economic and political system. The DRC has […]
Mediating a convoluted conflict
In the late 1990s, Zimbabwe became trapped in a ditch of multifaceted crises that were pronounced in the contest for political power between the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). This conflict revolved around the legitimacy of electoral processes, related institutions and the credibility of electoral […]
Justice and peacebuilding in post-conflict situations
After the 1991-2001 civil war, Sierra Leone employed a new model of transitional justice, concurrently utilising a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and a Special Court. Encouragingly, this process incorporated special gender considerations, by expanding the mandate of both the TRC and Special Court to address sexual violence and encourage women to come forward and […]
Being similar, different and coexistent
Remarkably meaningful sayings that have emerged out of real life in Africa highlight our inherent interrelatedness as fellow human beings. In the life situations where we happen to find ourselves, there are similarities that bind us together, but also differences that tend to drive us apart. When a group of us becomes concerned about who […]
A Pocket of Stability
This paper provides a comprehensive examination of Somaliland’s unusual development and current standing as a self-declared sovereign nation. Unlike Somalia, a state devastated by a perpetual twenty-year conflict, Somaliland boasts a growing civil society along with a relatively vibrant democracy and accountability to the Rule of Law. Since 1991, the region has become a pocket […]
The Complexity of Applying UN Resolution 1325 in Post Conflict Reintegration Processes
The United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1325 calls on all actors involved to address the special needs of women and girls during rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction. This study endeavours to analyse the reintegration experience of women and girls in post-conflict Uganda. In this country, the recruitment of combatants by the Lord’s Resistance Army […]