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Civil Wars in Africa, edited by Kelechi A. Kalu and George Klay Kieh, Jr., examines civil conflicts throughout various African countries. They argue that civil wars in Africa are by-products of the contradictions and crises engendered by the post-colonial state-building and nation-building projects in Africa. With few exceptions, the post-colonial states in Africa have failed to build societies that invest in the material well-being of their citizens; protect their political, civil, and other rights; promote accountability, transparency, the rule of law, judicial independence, and the holding of free and fair elections; and promote ethnic pluralism, tolerance, mutual respect, and peaceful co-existence, among others. In addition, the contributors show that the post-colonial states in Africa have been ruled by corrupt and autocratic leaders, who are obsessed with the maintenance of state power as the pathway to ensuring the private accumulation of wealth through sundry illegal means, including bribery, extortion, and theft of public funds. In sum, this volume addresses how the failure of the post-colonial African state to shepherd the process of building democratic societies based on the centrality of human security has led to the erosion of the legitimacy of the state and its custodians. Thus, once the contradictions and crises reached their crescendo, these post-colonial societies than implode into civil wars, even at the micro-level.
List of contents
List of Figures and Tables
Preface
PART I: BACKGROUND
Introduction: Mapping the Civil War Landscape in Africa
Kelechi A. Kalu and George Klay Kieh, Jr.
Chapter 1: Theories and Explanations of Civil Conflicts and Wars in Africa
Kelechi A. Kalu
PART II: CASE STUDIES
Chapter 2: Burundi: A Continuum of Civil Wars and Violence
Dawn Nager
Chapter 3: Civil War in Cameroon
Avitus Agbor
Chapter 4: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Conflict: A Study of the Tuobodom Chieftaincy Conflict in Ghana
Sabina Appiah-Boateng, Stephen B. Kendie, and Kenneth Aikins
Chapter 5: Liberia's Civil Wars
George Klay Kieh, Jr.
Chapter 6: Personality Conflicts and the Nigerian Civil War
Michael Ediagbonya
Chapter 7: On Rwanda's Civil War (October 1, 1990-April 6, 1994): Assessing the International Determinant
Fiacre Bienvenu
Chapter 8: The Sierra Leone Civil War: An Examination of Internal, Regional, and External Causes
Earl Conteh-Morgan
Chapter 9: The South Sudanese Civil War
Francis Onditi
Chapter 10: The Colonial Roots of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) War in Post-Colonial Northern Uganda
Sabastian Rwangabo and Julius Niringiyimana
PART III: LESSONS AND INSIGHTS
Conclusion: Beyond Civi1 Wars in Africa
Kelechi A. Kalu and George Klay Kieh, Jr.
Index
About the Editors and the Contributors
About the author
Edited by Kelechi A. Kalu and George Klay Kieh Jr. - Contributions by Kelechi A. Kalu; George Klay Kieh Jr.; Avitus Agbor; Kenneth Aikins; Sabina Appiah-Boateng; Fiacre Bienvenu; Earl Conteh-Morgan; Michael Ediabonya; Stephen Kendie; Dawn Nagar; Julius Ni
Summary
This book argues that civil wars in Africa stem from the contradictions and crises that have been generated by the post-colonial state as the result of the adverse effects of colonialism and the failure of successive generations of African leaders to lead the process of changing the state's nature, character, and mission.
