“Military interventions and conflict management in sub Saharan Africa: An analysis of selected case studies in west Africa, south Africa, horn of Africa and great lakes region”

Abstract

This dissertation examines the role of military intervention in managing conflicts and encouraging peace-building in Sub-Saharan Africa. The major objective for the study is to find out the role of international and regional military intervention in the process of conflict prevention and peace building as far as the conflicts facing the African continent are concerned. The study takes a keen interest in finding out what lessons could be learnt from previous peace-keeping operations; civil military-relations; as well as the role of the military in the democratization process in Africa. Countries that fall under the three main conflict regions in Sub-Saharan Africa made up the population under study. The institutions involved in military intervention such as the United Nations, the African Union, ECOWAS, [GAD and SADC also constitute part of the case studies. The militaries of the various countries that have been faced by such conflicts as well as the governments involved are also examined in this study. The research confines itself to secondary sources of data, and the main method of data collection has been library research. It has been established that, the UN has carried out a number of peace-keeping operations in Sub-Saharan Africa with limited success. On the other hand, regional military intervention has been hampered by the lack of political will among African States especially under the former Organization of African Unity. At the same time, bad governance and the seizure of power by the military juntas have jeopardized the place of military intervention in the management of conflicts in the region. Therefore, this study concludes that the African Continent, under the newly formed African Union, must be ready to work with the UN and other stakeholders in the process of conflict management in Africa. Furthermore, the research concludes that the involvement of the military in Africa in various UN military Operations should be understood as a stepping-stone for the African Union. The financial and military technological capacity of African countries as well as lack of political will seem to be the biggest challenge facing the African Union in the process of managing African Conflicts. This study sets out caveats for consideration if military intervention is to be a sound and effective channel for preventing and resolving conflict in Africa.