Irregular Warfare in African Conflicts

Abstract

Irregular wars have erupted in African states since colonial independence from Western European countries in the 1960s. The end of the Cold War in 1989 and the changing nature of international politics did not bring about political stability in African states either. These intrastate wars were by-products of historic disputes kept hidden during the Cold War. When the ideological confrontation ended, they surfaced again. Intrastate wars and irregular warfare are not new phenomena on the African continent and led to the collapse of state institutions in countries such as Liberia, Somalia, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda, Sudan and Burundi. Rather than addressing African animosities, conflict continues unabated.The article aims to investigate why irregular (or asymmetric) warfare is utilised in African conflicts where rebel and ethnic groups retain residual military capacity to deploy against weak central governments if their socio-economic demands are not met in the emerging states. The article combines "grievance" and "greed" models to explain the motivations for conflict, while the conceptualisation and utilisation of asymmetric warfare approaches in the African context of irregular war are questioned. Democratic values such as freedom, justice, equality and human dignity are lacking in conflict-ridden societies where unequal forces compete for political and economic control or control over scarce resources. Peacekeeping operations cannot succeed unless the basis for equitable participation in, and the sharing of wealth and power is established in African societies.

The Interdisciplinarity of Military Studies: A Sociological Perspective and South African Application

“…The latter conducts research on military issues pertaining to defence policy, human security, civil-military relations, violence and terrorism, conflicts in Africa, peacekeeping missions, child soldiers, unionisation and piracy off the coast of Somalia (Botha 2007;Celliers & Heinecken 2000;Cilliers 1999;Cilliers & Mills 1999;Ferreira 2005Ferreira , 2007Ferreira , 2010Landsberg 1999;Liebenberg 2001). Although these interdisciplinary Rialize Ferreira studies provide rich contexts of information on military issues, a proper theoretical basis is still lacking.…”

Contemporary Irregular Warfare: Defense Strategy

“…This phenomenon is then referred to as irregular warfare. Irregular warfare is defined as a way of warfare or tactics that are determined not as conventional warfare tactics and focus on the relevant population, where each operation must consider the enemy and the relevant population (Kelly in Asral Efendi, Pujo Widodo, 2020) Irregular Warfare is also defined as a violent struggle between state and non-state actors to gain legitimacy and influence over the relevant population/people (Doctrine, 2011). It does not lead to military power or to control territory.…”

The art of mediation in resolving African conflicts: lessons for Zimbabwe and Africa

“…The paper is informed by the grievance and greed models put forward by Collier and Hoeffler (2004). Collier and Hoeffler argue that greed surpasses grievance as a drive for civil war because the factors determining the financial and military sustainability of civil war are more important than grievances (Ferreira, 2010, p. 47). The grievance model refers to inequality, political oppression, ethnic and religious motivations for conflict (Ferreira, 2010, p. 47).…”