1. Misinterpreting Ethnic Conflicts in Africa
- Author:
- Clement Mweyang Aapengnuo
- Publication Date:
- 04-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- Ethnicity is typically not the driving force of African conflicts but a lever used by political leaders to mobilize supporters in pursuit of power, wealth, and resources. Recognizing that ethnicity is a tool and not the driver of intergroup conflict should refocus our conflict mitigation efforts to the political triggers of conflict. Ethnic thinking and mobilization generally emerge from inequitable access to power and resources and not from an intrinsic hatred. Over the medium to long term, defusing the potency of ethnicity for political ends requires a systematic civic education strategy that helps build a common national identity, which so many African countries still lack.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Ethnic Conflict, Nationalism, and Ethnic Government
- Political Geography:
- Africa