Structural adjustment, democratization and rising ethnic tensions characterize the current situation in much of Africa today. This article examines how these tendencies interact causally. It begins by describing Africa's growing debt (combined with defence) burden, the nature of the structural adjustment programme (SAP), particularly its pressures and contradictions, and the increasingly authoritarian responses generated by these. After illustrating the linkage between SAP and rising ethnic tensions, it is suggested that the issue of the distribution of power, wealth and ethnicity, especially under conditions of increasing scarcity, needs to be reconsidered. There are a number of reasons why ethnic and regional tensions are exacerbated by debts, economic crisis and adjustment in Africa; a core argument of this article is that the current ethnic tensions, like the ongoing democratic struggles, are arising as part of the general resistance against both SAP, because of its pauperizing impact, and against the state, which is seen as increasingly coercive and as negligent of its basic welfare responsibilities towards its citizens. The article ends by considering the implications of the coincidence of these two foci of resistance not only for the democratization project, but also for the survival of the state in Africa.

No abstract

No abstract

Five case studies of international involvement in demilitarization/reconstruction processes are reviewed: Somalia (UNOSOM & UNITAF); Rhodesia/Zimbabwe; former Yugoslavia (UNPROFOR); Cambodia (UNTAC); and Mozambique (ONUMOZ). A central defect of these studies is that they do not include broader issues in their consideration of peace, nor do they contain any indications of the conditions for its sustenance in the post-settlement stage. Managing arms is only one aspect of a peace process. The transition process is more usefully conceptualized as a multifaceted one, in which military, political, psycho-social, humanitarian, as well as economic questions are seen as closely interwoven.

No abstract