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Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation

The Challenge of Sub-Regional Security in West Africa : The case of the 2006 ECOWAS convention on small arms and light weapons

Upphovsperson: Darkwa, Linda
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala
År: 2011
Ämnesord: West Africa, Weapons, Small arms, Armament, Disarmament, Arms transfers, Cross-border trade, Informal sector, Organized crime, Regional security, Regional cooperation, Post-conflict reconstruction, Political science, Statsvetenskap
This Discussion Paper provides insights into the challenges posed by the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in West Africa, paying particular attention to the ECOWAS convention on small arms and light weapons as a collective sub-regional response to a potent threat to peace, security and development. It connects global and regional discourses on illicit arms control and provides a balanced, empirical xamination of the performance of the convention. It is a useful contribution to debates on arms-proliferation control in Africa and provides well-informed recommendations of interest to scholars, peace activists, policy practitioners and strategists working on peace and security in Africa.

Ethnicity and Democratisation in Africa : Challenges for Politics and Development

Upphovsperson: Agbu, Osita A.
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Ethnicity, ethnic conflicts, Interethnic relations, Democratization, politics, Nation-building, Citizenship, Africa, Political science, Statsvetenskap
This Discussion Paper explores the challenges that ethnicity poses for democratisation and development in Africa. It provides an overview of the literature on ethnicity and democratisation and an analysis of the trends on the continent since the end of the Cold War. In this regard, it critically examines perspectives on the impact of ethnicity on democracy and analyses the ethnicity-citizenship nexus in the context of the national democratic question in Africa. This provides the basis for the analysis of emerging challenges facing Africa and the way forward. The paper provides additional insights into the ongoing debates about democracy and the nation-state question in Africa and is of interest to scholars, practitioners and the general reader.

Critical Factors in the Horn of Africa's Raging Conflicts

Upphovsperson: Mengisteab, Kidane
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation |
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Horn of Africa, Regional conflicts, Historical analysis, Social implications, Economic implications, International relations, Conflict management, Peace research, Political science, Statsvetenskap
At a time when much attention is focused on the Horn of Africa as one of Africa’s most war-ravaged regions and a continued source of security concern regionally and globally, this Discussion Paper provides deep insights into the complex dimensions of and linkages between the violent conflicts in the region. Delving into history and the core and contextual factors underpinning these wars in the postcolonial era, the author provides a conceptual framework for grappling with the complex inter- and intra-state conflicts by focusing on the institutional and structural causes of war. He goes on to make a compelling argument that conflict for institutional and democratic state transformation in the Horn of Africa is a fundamental step towards long-term peace and sustainable development.

Reconceptualising Democratic Local Governance in the Niger Delta

Upphovsperson: Ebobrah, Solomon T.
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation |
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Nigeria, Niger Delta, Federalism, Public administration, Decentralization, Local government, Governance, Democratization, Social participation, petroleum resources, Resource allocation, Community development, Political science, Statsvetenskap
This Discussion Paper critically examines local governance in the Niger Delta and its relevance to the search for inclusive and sustainable conflict-resolution in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. It critiques the existing local government system and explores the possibility of reconceptualising local governance along more inclusive, accountable and participatory lines that would institutionalise democracy, development and peace at the grassroots or community level in the troubled oil-rich region. Its originality lies in its departure from top-down perspectives, and its refocusing of attention on the oft-neglected local sites of conflict and under development. The paper will appeal to scholars, policy actors and development planners with a particular interest in developments at the African grassroots level.

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