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- Description:
- This paper examines the state of civil-military relations and the prospects for demilitarisation and democratisation in contemporary West Africa. Its underlying thesis is that West Africa poses one of the greatest dilemmas to the prospects for demilitarisation in Africa. At the same time, it offers a potentially useful mechanism for regional peace and security with implications for (de)militarisation in Africa. While the paper recognises the historico-structural dimensions of militarisation as well as the behavioural obstacles to demilitarisation, it captures the challenges and prospects in terms of the complexity of state-civil society relations and suggests a holistic understanding of the concept of security. This, it does with a view to de-emphasising force as the key mechanism for conflict resolution, and promoting an inclusive institutional framework for demilitarisation and development.
- Date Issued:
- 1998-06-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- African Journal of Political Science
- Description:
- The arms trade is a symptom, not the cause of conflict. Yet a strong case can be made for the argument that stemming the flow of weapons to an area of armed conflict can have a positive, albeit limited, impact. A continuous flow of arms provides protagonists with the material and psychological means to sustain a conflict. This means that a ban on further shipment of arms to one or all sides to an armed conflict could advance the cause of peace. This paper attempts to offer a perspective on the nature of the arms trade as it affects Africa, list the supply-side measures (like an international code of conduct) that are currently making some headway, and propose a number of mechanisms that governments and nongovernmental organisations in Africa can activate in order to curb the inflow of weapons.
- Date Issued:
- 1998-06-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- African Journal of Political Science
- Date Issued:
- 1999-12-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- African Journal of Political Science