Africa Notes: Conflict Management in Africa - February 1996

The issue of conflict management has been at the top of Africa's political agenda since mid-1993. It has also seized the attention of policy-level officials in the governments and international agencies that have development cooperation relationships with African countries. For Africans, it has mainly been a question of the continent taking charge of a major problem that had hitherto been addressed almost exclusively by non-Africans. For the international community, it has mainly been a question of helping Africans build their own capacity to deal with conflict. For the academic research community, it has involved analyzing the root causes of violent conflict and examining the various methodologies of conflict resolution. For all, there has been a common understanding that (in addition to causing death and destruction) warfare in Africa constitutes the single greatest obstacle to economic development.

Herman J. Cohen