Domestic and Inter-State Conflict in Africa
| Date | 01 September 1970 |
| Author | Robert O. Matthews |
| Published date | 01 September 1970 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070207002500302 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Domestic
and
Inter-State
Conflict
in
Africa
Robert
0.
Matthews
Efforts
to
confirm
or
disprove
a
direct
linkage
between
internal
and
international
conflict
have
all
too
frequently
been
impres-
sionistic.
Students
of
international
relations
have often
accepted
the
view
that
a
causal
link
exists
between
these two
phenomena
-
that
states
will
use
external distraction
and
foreign
enemies
as
scapegoats
to
offset
their
inability
to
deal effectively
with
their
internal
problems;
or
that
the
outbreak
of
domestic
disorders
is
likely
to
lead
to
widespread
intervention from
outside.
In
either
event,
it
is
assumed
that
internal instability
will
tend
to
result
in
international instability.
The
intention
of
this
article
is
to
provide
an
indication
of
the
manner
in
which
internal
and
international
conflicts
have
been
empirically
related
in
independent
Africa
over
the
past
decade.
Through
such
an
effort
it
is
hoped
to
throw
some
light
on
the
foreign
policy
behaviour
of
African
states
and
on
the
nature
of
the
African regional
subordinate
system and
to
offer
new
empirical
data with
which
to
test
the
more
general
hypo-
theses
(and
their
underlying assumptions)
that
have
been
ad-
vanced
in
the
past to relate these
two
phenomena.'
Attention
will
first
be
directed
toward
the
widespread
phenomenon
of
domestic
conflict
in
Africa.
Several
linkages
between domestic
and
international
instability
are
then
described
and analyzed.
Finally,
a
hypothesis
is
presented
in
an
attempt
to
explain
the
apparent
correlation
between
a
high
level
of
disorder
(and
vio-
lence)
within
African
states
and
a
low
level
and
intensity
of
conflict
between
them.
Assistant Professor,
Department
of
Political
Economy,
University
of
Toronto.
1
For
purposes of
this
presentation,
non-African powers
will
not
be
con.
sidered;
the
possibility
and
danger
of
great
power
intervention
are
thus not
treated.
This
gap
is
justified
on
the
grounds
that
the
focus
of
this
study
is
the
African
states
and
how
they
interact
460
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
Since
achieving
independence
most
African
states
have
experi-
enced
political
instability
in
one
form
or
another.
In
the
last
seven
years
the
world
has
witnessed
the
overthrow
of
at
least
23
governments
in
16
different
states.
Attempted
coups,
real
or
imaginary,
have
been
reported
in
a
similar
number
of
states.
Large-scale
insurrections
have plagued
the
entire
independence
period in
the
Sudan
and
Kenya
and, more recently,
inflicted
deep
wounds
on
the
Nigerian
body
politic.
Assassinations
and
attempted
assassinations
have
not
been
many,
but
their
incidence
is
increasing.
Finally,
communal
violence
continues
to trouble
many
African
states.
In
short,
with
the
exception
of
Gambia,
Swaziland,
and
Madagascar,
no
independent
African
state
has
escaped
the
impact
of
political
instability
and
violence.
Most
African
governments
are
faced
with
the
same
problems,
crises,
or
demands,
many
of
which
they
have
inherited
since
the
end
of
colonial
rule.
Weakness,
both
in
economic
capacity
and
political
authority,
is
a
characteristic
common
to
all.
Frequently
unable
to
impose
a
uniform
administration throughout
their
state,
lacking
the
means
with
which
to
communicate
between
themselves
and
their
masses, incapable
of
transcending
and
con-
trolling
ethnic
and
regional
divisions,
and
confronted
with
in-
creased
political
participation,
which
in
turn
generates
new
demands
and
expectations,
the
new
African
governments
soon
discover
that
their
capacities
are
inadequate to
cope
with
the
loads
they
have
assumed.
In
such
circumstances,
political
decay
(with
the
concomitant
features
of
disorder
and
violence) is
as
likely
a
result
as
political development.
Among
the
many
domestic
disorders,
two
broad
categories,
with
several
sub-types,
are
readily
discernible.
On
one
hand,
internal
instability
has
resulted
from
what
has
been
called
the
reassertion
of
old
antagonisms,
but
which
might
more
appropri-
ately
be
termed
challenges
toward
territorial
integrity.
On
the
eve
of
independence,
African leaders
found
themselves
confronted
by
a
situation
in which
the
loyalties
of
most
of
their
citizens
were
still
focused
on
a
particular
group
(tribe,
ethnic
grouping,
or
what
some
would
prefer
to
call
nation)
within
the
state.
Independence,
when
it
implied
the
transfer
of
power
from
a more
or
less
neutral
alien
rule
to a
single
tribe
or
coalition
of
tribes,
strengthened these
parochial
affiliations.
The
differential
impact
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