School of Development Studies

2022
Ambedkar University Delhi
Course: Peace, Conflict & Development

Submitted by – Ankesh Kumar Karna

MA History (Semester 3rd)

Enrolment no – S213DHS05

Submitted to – Ivy Dhar

PEACE, CONFLICT, AND DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA: A READER

Edited by Erin McCandless and Tony Karbo

India’s External Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar has been widely covered by the European media

these days for his notable statement, and I quote, “Europe’s problem is the world’s problem,

but the world’s problem is not Europe’s problem”.

As world order keeps on changing, from a multipolar world to a bipolar world and currently

scholars call that, we are presently in a unipolar world. On one hand, we have superpower

countries like the US and on another hand, we are witnessing the Taliban coming into power

in Afghanistan. Some countries are extremely wealthy while there are also some countries

where people are dying because of hunger. Yes, you guessed it right, we are talking about

South Africa. While looking at African perspectives, on peace and development, According

to Hansen, Africa was not being served by the prevalent views and methods of maintaining

peace. Peace is very often claimed as a universal desideratum. However, most states across

the world assert that peace is desired, but there is no consensus on how to define peace, how

to overcome barriers to it, what peace truly is, or how it can be achieved.

Hansen also elucidates that wars are not fought only for the borders of defence of any

particular territory but also for the maintenance of some sort of social order. But we also

recognise that, prior to the development of nuclear weapons, we were under the control of

Europeans through colonialism, enslavement, and neo-colonialism, This is an unpleasant

truth for us. Even if all nuclear weapons were destroyed, we would continue to live under

oppression until the socioeconomic order that created nuclear weapons was overthrown. The

foundation for major conflict will remain as long as people are repressed. (Karbo 2011)

Hansen brings up the real reason for certain parts of Africa which are still very backward,

such as Ethiopia. Here around a million people have died and many shattered to Burkina

Faso, Niger, Sudan, Senegal, and Mali. In addition, because of the prevalence of droughts,
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the agriculture sector was already affected, and because of this now Africa produces only

twenty percent of its overall cereal requirements.

Another reason for the current economic problem is the debt crisis, instability of political

parties, and absence of the constitution, especially in smaller states. Nearly every African

nation that gained its independence has witnessed a significant battle. For instance, the Amin

crisis in 1979 jeopardized the stability of the whole area and resulted in a military clash with

Tanzania.

Conflict, according to Robert Picciotto, is a natural part of being human. Conflicting interests

and values among individuals or groups often cause this. However, it need not be violent. It

certainly has the potential to foster communication, result in compromise, and, as a result,

promote societal peace and mutual understanding. Samuel Huntington in ‘clash of

Civilizations’ also pointed out that the stage for cultural differences has been set.

Conflict Analysis of Africa

A fundamental definition of the term "conflict" serves as a beginning point for classifying

conflicts. When two people or organizations have opposing goals and interests, a conflict

occurs. According to Hugh Miall, there must be a perception of a conflict among the parties;

there must be opposing viewpoints regarding interests, values, or objectives; there must be

hostile interaction between the parties; The parties must care about how the dispute is

resolved, whether they are states, non-state entities, or sub-national groups inside a state.

(Picciotto 2011)

Tschirgi discusses the techniques for and effects of international cooperation and

humanitarian and development aid. However, since its origin, development aid has been

politically motivated in terms of recipient selection, aid distribution patterns, and overall

plan. During the Cold War, the development aid sector developed its own professional
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bureaucracy, technological know-how, and specialised programs. Until recently, the

development industry was primarily obsessed with issues of violence and instability. For

instance, in Rwanda, the yearly flow of aid to the government increased by 50% between the

late 1980s and the early 1990s, despite the regime's role in encouraging Hutu extremists to

violence against the Tutsi minority.

According to a World Bank report, the Cold War's international politics as well as the

internal politics of assistance organisations dominated the allocation of aid by bilateral and

multilateral donors between 1970 and 1993. As knowledge of the connections between

conflict and development increased, the third generation of assistance conditionality evolved.

Peace was established as a third need for receiving help, in addition to economic and political

changes. In order to encourage the execution of peace treaties and the consolidation of peace,

aid to countries experiencing armed conflict is increasingly subject to peace conditionality,

the use of formal performance criteria, and informal policy debate. Additionally, it has been

shown that militarised peacebuilding and interventionism are on the rise in the world..

(Tschirgi 2011)

Two fundamental conceptual frameworks at the core of peacebuilding initiatives to

practically address sources of the conflict are conflict sensitivity and conflict prevention.

Additionally, there are initiatives aimed at integrating conflict resolution within the

development cooperation agenda.

The theory is predicated on the understanding that war and poverty are intricately linked.

According to empirical data, poorer nations are more likely to encounter violent conflict,

whereas those impacted by conflicts often have greater rates of poverty. Economic and

human capital is destroyed in a violent war. A country coming out of war may have damaged

physical infrastructure, fewer job possibilities, less foreign investment, and more capital

flight. Conflict also drives up military spending, which takes money away from the public
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and social spending and weakens the government's capacity to manage revenues and collect

taxes, hurting post-conflict rehabilitation. Additionally, a war raises military spending, which

diverts funds away from public and social spending and weakens the government's capacity

to collect taxes and manage revenues, hindering post-conflict rehabilitation. Weak

governmental institutions, which frequently fail to put policy into action and defend the rule

of law, make this issue worse. Conflict commonly has a negative impact on social service

delivery, high levels of brain drain, and educational quality. The interaction of these elements

raises both the severity of poverty and the possibility of a resurgence of violence. (Karbo,

Conflict sensitivity and conflict prevention 2011)

While the rest of the world's nations participate in the development and international politics

as equal participants, those in Africa are regarded as a source of help or the residence of

renegade criminal elements. Collapsed governments, where there is no effective

governmental authority are one example, which also has structured governance by militia

organisations or previous rebel fronts. The chance for any kind of civic mobilization is close

to nil and is likely to be restricted to regional NGOs working to protect and support refugees,

potentially with support from outside funders. There is no way to have organized political

representation. Africa's youth are now beyond control due to a confluence of factors

including discontent, illiteracy, drug access, and warlords' willingness to arm them. This has

led to the emergence of a terrible new class of armed thugs whose only motivation is to have

fun at the expense of civilized principles. (Doe 2011)

“Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly

eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.” —John F. Kennedy

(goodhousekeeping 2021)
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REFERENCES

Doe, Sam Gbaydee. 2011. "Non-violence and social Mobilisation for peace and change." In Peace,
Conflict, and Development in Africa: A reader, by Erin McCandless and Tony Karbo, 435-449,
453-457. Switzerland: University for Peace.

2021. goodhousekeeping. August 24. Accessed Nov 29, 2022.

Karbo, Erin McCandless, and Tony. 2011. "Conflict sensitivity and conflict prevention." In Peace,
Conflict, and Development in Africa: A reader, by Erin McCandless and Tony Karbo, 421-424,
435-438. Switzerland: University for Peace.

Karbo, Erin McCandless, and Tony. 2011. "Peace, Conflict, and Development in Africa: The Linkage."
In Peace, Conflict, and Development in Africa: A Reader, by Erin McCandless and Tony Karbo,
1-8. Switzerland: University for Peace.

Picciotto, Robert. 2011. "AFRICA AT WAR AGAINST ITSELF: CIVIL WARS AND NEW SECURITY
THREATS." In Peace, Conflict, and Development in Africa: A reader, by Erin McCandless and
Tony Karbo, 51-59. Switzerland: University for Peace.

Tschirgi, Necla. 2011. "International peace and Humanitarian and development aid: strategies and
impact." In Peace, Conflict, and Development in Africa: A reader, by Erin McCandless and
Tony Karbo, 163-177. Switzerland: University for Peace.