The role of African regional and sub-regional organisations in conflict prevention and resolution

Security analysts now seem to have agreed that the nature of global conflicts has changed
since the end of the Cold War.1 One of the most frequently cited manifestations of this change
is the increase in the number of intra-state conflicts. Grisly developments in Cambodia,
Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Liberia, just to mention a few, left devastating consequences for a
world that was expecting peace dividends after the end of the Cold War. Amongst others, this
emergent pattern of conflict is rooted in:
(a) tensions between sub-national groups stemming from the collapse of old patterns of
relationships that provided the framework for collaboration among the many ethnic
groups in most states;
(b) disputes over resource sharing arising from gross disparities in wealth among different
groups within the same countries and the consequent struggles for reform of economic
systems to ensure an equitable distribution of economic power;
(c) absence of democratic structures, culture and practice, and the consequent struggle for
democratisation, good governance and reform of political systems;
(d) systemic failures in the administration of justice and the inability of states to guarantee
the security of the population;
(e) issues relating to religious cleavages and religious fundamentalism.