How do we explain the development of intrastate or civil conflict - Essay Example

Internal conflicts contribute to disruption of the existing infrastructure and depreciate economic development, which is highlighted in poor African countries with long recovery periods that adversely affect people’s economic, health and social wellbeing (Collier, 1998). The politics of a country may make unequal distribution of a country’s resources and wealth, and this ultimately leads to violent rebellions against the rich and those in power. Armed civil conflicts are mostly common in the economically underdeveloped nations with high prevalence of joblessness, oppression, and injustice.

The After Effects of European Colonialism The Berlin conference laid up the strategies for dividing Africa necessitating the creation of haphazard artificial boundaries. The large expanse of the African continent became a challenge for colonial administrators who lacked the manpower and resources to effectively rule the land (Shah, 2010). They used the divide and rule policy, which fermented numerous and disastrous conflicts. The boundaries colonialists created in Africa served their own economic interests.

Colonialism erased entire cultures, and they way of life of many communities, most colonies were given minimal education, and religion to suit the Europeans needs (Shah, 2010). The postcolonial period proved difficult for Africans as the majority had useless skills unequipped for rebuilding their continent, coupled with people of diverse ethnic backgrounds and cultures crammed up together in depraved conditions. These people lacked the capacity to accommodate each other and develop nationalism that is exhibited in other parts of the world (Shah, 2010).

Majority of the leaders that assisted Europeans to govern were ambitious and corrupt and they ruthlessly exploited their fellow Africans for their own gain. After independence, these people ascended to powerful political positions and to safeguard their positions majority used single party leaderships to rule. Single party leadership oppressed many citizens creating civil wars that led to assassinations and coups. These regimes are responsible for a majority of the civil wars experienced in Africa (Shah, 2010).

Colonialists who introduced new cash crops directed the national economic activities of most developing countries. The Africans lost their native crops, which were suited to their climates and embraced foreign cash crops to serve the western markets exposing them to food insecurities (Shah, 2010). The nationalization of commercial cash crop farming and mineral mining in some regions make these people dependent on limited economic activities exposing them to fluctuating world market, prices increasing civil war risks.

Africa constitutes very many ethnic communities and sub tribes that previously coexisted peacefully. The scramble for Africa by Europeans divided the continent and changed the structural life of Africans. Most colonialist governments promoted Darwinism, which elevated some communities and oppressed others leading to fundamental inequalities that have persisted to the current times. The Rwandese genocide arose from the tribal hierarchy left by the Belgium after Rwanda gained independence. They had made Tutsis