Regional Dimensions of Peace Support Operations in the Twenty-First Century: A Case Study of the African Standby Force Concept

Un extracto de la tesis:

The security of African Nations remains subject to a variety of military and non-military risks that is multi-dimensional and often difficult to predict. Whilst the potential for inter-state disputes has not diminished, the last ten years have seen the appearance of complex new risks to peace and stability, including oppression, ethnic conflict, economic distress, the collapse of political order, the proliferation of small arms and organised international crime. When crises arise they increasingly involve many factions and contain conflict elements which may be inter and intra and/or trans national in nature and involve the cross border movement of refugees, internally displaced people, migrants and wide spread human rights abuses. Such intra state conflicts and transnational activities are generally perpetrated by sub state actors or ‘war lords’, non-state actors, militias, criminal elements and armed civilians and not exclusively by elements of the regular armies. As a result social cohesion and state institutions collapse, law and order breaks down, banditry and chaos prevail and the civilian population flees the conflict region or the country.