Description:
Irregular wars have erupted in African states since colonial independence<br />from Western European countries in the 1960s. The end of the Cold War in 1989<br />and the changing nature of international politics did not bring about political<br />stability in African states either. These intrastate wars were by-products of historic<br />disputes kept hidden during the Cold War. When the ideological confrontation<br />ended, they surfaced again. Intrastate wars and irregular warfare are not new<br />phenomena on the African continent and led to the collapse of state institutions in<br />countries such as Liberia, Somalia, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo<br />(DRC), Uganda, Sudan and Burundi. Rather than addressing African animosities,<br />conflict continues unabated.<br />The article aims to investigate why irregular (or asymmetric) warfare is<br />utilised in African conflicts where rebel and ethnic groups retain residual military<br />capacity to deploy against weak central governments if their socio-economic<br />demands are not met in the emerging states. The article combines “grievance” and<br />“greed” models to explain the motivations for conflict, while the conceptualisation<br />and utilisation of asymmetric warfare approaches in the African context of irregular<br />war are questioned. Democratic values such as freedom, justice, equality and human<br />dignity are lacking in conflict-ridden societies where unequal forces compete for<br />political and economic control or control over scarce resources. Peacekeeping<br />operations cannot succeed unless the basis for equitable participation in, and the<br />sharing of wealth and power is established in African societies.