Boundaries and Conflict in the Mano River Region of West Africa
| Autor: | Marilyn Silberfein, Al-Hassan Conteh |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2006 |
| Předmět: |
021110 strategic
defence & security studies Economics and Econometrics media_common.quotation_subject Refugee 05 social sciences 0211 other engineering and technologies 02 engineering and technology Colonialism 0506 political science West africa Politics Economy State (polity) Political science Political Science and International Relations 050602 political science & public administration media_common |
| Zdroj: | Conflict Management and Peace Science. 23:343-361 |
| ISSN: | 1549-9219 0738-8942 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/07388940600972685 |
| Popis: | The porous and contestable features of African boundaries are two interacting themes that are closely linked to the emergence and spread of conflict in Africa in the last decade. This study uses the Mano River Region—Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and Ivory Coast—to illustrate how border issues contribute to the perpetuation of insecurity. Border evolution is traced from precolonial to colonial to the postindependence period to include the details of how the countries of the Mano River Region attained their current dimensions. The focus then shifts to the current decade, when violence in one country stimulated a similar phenomenon in a neighboring state until the entire region was enveloped. Several facets of porous borders facilitated this pattern to include the flow of weapons, the movement of former combatants, and the transnational exploitation of resources. Contestable borders have not been as much of a factor in stimulating conflict, but, given the current political and economic malaise in Africa, the potential certainly exists for more challenges to extant boundaries. If porous borders come under tighter national control, a goal in many African countries, then it is likely that more boundary locations will be contested. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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