Comprehending and Mastering African Conflicts: The Search for Sustainable Peace and Good Governance

Countries in Africa continue to fall prey to civil war and the disintegration of governmental authority and social order. The contributors to this book believe that a development agenda to improve people's lives and strengthen national economies cannot be effective until Africa masters its problems of governance. They examine the complex and diverse roots of conflicts in Angola, Burundi and Rwanda, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Somalia and Somaliland, and offer historical and comparative reflections. Drawing on the experiences of Northern Mali, Nigeria, the part played by NGOs in Rwanda, and the role of regional cooperation, they explore possible ways of anticipating, containing and indeed preventing new conflicts.