Armed Conflicts In Oil, Sierra Leone And The Congo

Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest

Ethnic conflict is the dominant security issue of our time, 75 percent of all new conflicts are ethnic. Since 1989, ethnic conflict has killed at least 3.5 million and displaced 26 million people. Almost all ethnic conflicts, especially in the 21st century, occur in post-colonial settings. Colonialism is why we have ethnic conflicts, especially in Africa. There are many factors contributing to post-colonial ethnic conflict, however some have more influence over the others. I argue that during colonialism, the intraethnic and interethnic divisions that led to the creation of different types of ethnic groups, and unequal treatment by colonial rule led to ethnic conflict in post-colonial settings.

The thesis essentially implies that certain parts of the world, mainly the Global South, “are populated by irrationally violent and uncivilized peoples” (Bau 2010, 23). The ‘New Barbarism’ thesis is exemplified in Robert Kaplan’s “The Coming Anarchy.” Contrastingly, Paul Richards’ Fighting for the Rainforest sought to undermine the arguments behind both “The Coming Anarchy” and the ‘New Barbarism’ thesis. The dominant representations of conflicts in Africa are found through Western media coverage, which have simplified and distorted complex situations by reducing the cause of conflicts to ethnic antagonisms. “Mainstream media often report African wars in terms of a reversion to an earlier state of development” (Ellis 2003, 39). In doing so, conflicts in Africa, such as those in Rwanda and Sudan, are presented under the false premise of conforming to ‘New Barbarism,’ leading to international actors addressing the wrong problems or simply loosing hope in Africa altogether

The end of the Cold War has had profound effects on Africa. On the positive side, it has removed the tendency of outside actors to become intricate in internal and regional quarrelling in striving towards their own goals. Diminished the often excessive levels and types of military aid, training, and outside military reinforcements available to African countries, also by making UN Security Council consent of multilateral peacekeeping measures more likely.

(United Nations 1). Early in 1992, the R.U.F seized Kono, the diamond mining capital of Sierra Leone, because of the amount of profit in the diamond mining industry in Africa, and initiated a diamond conflict between some diamond mining nations in Africa, thus starting (Gerund) the “War over Conflict Diamonds”. In an attempt to put (Infinitive) a halt to this uprising, the National Provisional Ruling Council (N.P.R.C) waged war with the R.U.F., creating “Operation Genesis” to force out the R.U.F. (Brown 1). However, this did not succeed, causing an attack by the R.U.F. on Sierra Leoneans. To intimidate voters and keep control on the diamond mines, the R.U.F “chopped off the hands and feet of adults, teens, and infants.” (Brown 1). Despite this vicious onslaught, the R.U.F. was still allowed to participate (Infinitive) in the elections. (Brown 1). This remains the biggest reason that we must put an end to these rebel groups and the pain they cause to African families.

The aftermath of the Rwandan genocide paved the way for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) facing an environment of war and instability. The DRC had two major wars, in 1996-1997 and 1998-2003.The key players of the first war were Congolese government forces with the support of Uganda under Laurent Kabila and the Democratic Forces for Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) loyal forces to the Mobutu regime. The second war was termed the “African First World War” by Alan Doss, a United Nations Special Representative for the Secretary General in 2009 (Doss,2009). It directly involved five other African countries, namely Namibia, Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe and Rwanda, as well as DRC government forces and approximately

Congo often tripped in matters of security, a lot of wars and violence in the area. Because of the many natural resources of Congo have, many European countries which fighting to reclaim the area. Not just a war because of the struggle for power, but Congo is often experienced a civil war. In addition to the war in Congo, women in Congo often get violent, as well as physical violence and sexual abuse. This time the war occurred because of Congo does not allow refugees from the genocide in Rwanda to evacuate in the Congo, that's when armed groups are formed. Congo against the Tutsi and other groups to emerge. At this time the death toll reached 5 million people. Not long after Congo signed an agreement to make peace, but weak government and

The Sierra Leones Civil War, started in 1991 and ended in 2002.In more than a decade cities were destroyed and occupied, people displaced, women raped and children forced to become soldiers. Man were mostly used in the diamond’s mines or deployed in illegal armed forces. At the very beginning, in 1991 the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) from Liberia moved to Sierra Leone to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government. In the meanwhile, the Sierra Leone Army tried its best to protect the huge amount of diamonds’ mines. Those mines, through the illicit commerce all over the world, fuelled the RUF and the NPFL (National Patriotic Front of Liberia) or later in the years the AFRC (Armed Forces Revolutionary Council), to support theirs military expenses with the revenues.

When analyzing Frantz Fanon’s theory on violence, although captivating and provoking, I think of it not being completely applied in Africa. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the war-for-profit strategy is current and resulting in six million deaths, which are still rising because of a resource war. Continents

This paper focuses on the British military intervention that occurred in Sierra Leone, on May 7 2000. As well as the effect of the intervention’s contribution towards ending the war and implementing peace-building strategies. The intervention was successful in the short term, however, it is questionable whether it was based on encouraging development. The other participants include the United Nations, President Kabbah and the remaining rebel armies of West Africa. One of the main rebel armies involved, the Revolutionary United Front, were known for their violence that spread amongst neighbouring countries. The participants were known for a negotiation, called the Lome Peace Agreement, resulting in the United Nation unsuccessfully peacekeeping.

Uganda is subject to armed fighting among hostile ethnic groups, rebels, armed gangs, militias, and various government forces that extend across its borders;

What we see in the case of civil war is that greed and capital are the roots of all evil and human life is seen as a last concern of the ones who crave for profit. Governments don’t always use their power and trust of their people for prosperity of the country but for their accumulative wealth. The government is willing to obtain the capital by any means necessary; even if that means that their own people die at the expense of natural resources that only obtain value by the assumption of the ones that wants it. In Sierra Leone this was the case that highlights these truths. Momoh gained the trust of the people of Sierra Leone and then sought the diamond mines as a profit for himself and his colleagues instead of for his people. Sierra

It is well known that there is widespread conflict, human rights violations and corruption in Africa. The international community has failed to act because they are not enabled with financial resources or the power to force sovereign nations to act in accordance with basic and universal civil rights. As a result, African citizens are suffering from the actions of the nations around the world and then are abandoned to help themselves. In East Africa, widespread drought and famine were preventable but ignored and starvation is wide spread in the region. Sierra Leone continues to fight conflicts after a civil war over the diamond industry, while children are employed by the government as soldiers. In Nigeria, already limited access to fresh

The Angola conflict was a civil war that was located in the South African state of Angola. This 27 year long civil war, that killed an estimated 800,000 people and displace 4 million people, broke out on 11 November 1975, right after the Portuguese colonial rule, and ended in 2002. Similar to many other post colonial states, Angola suffered both social and economical struggles which lead to a power struggle between three predominant liberation movements. It is important for us to study this civil war as we can learn many lessons from this major event in history, and make use of the information gathered from this to help us understand how these similar conflicts have started off and have developed to this state. Hence I would be analysing

This paper will discuss the Oil conflict that is occurring in Nigeria. Discussed will be the types of power that the two feuding parties are using and whether their strategies have been effective as well as the influence they have had on the conflict. The contrasting cultural differences and similarities will be discussed as well. The conflict in Nigeria has turned deadly and a successful communication environment must be developed in order to restore peace to the region.