Key words:
Africa’s security problems, Democracy and Human Rights, Economic Development, Terrorism, Transparency and Corruption.
For a researcher of international relations, the African continent is only a very rich laboratory where it will be possible to analyze all the problems facing, at the present, the international community.
What are these problems? Before addressing this issue, it must be emphasized that they do not always have their roots in the process of colonization. However, there are certain problems that are caused by the colonial period. This means that the problems of the past are at the root of today’s difficulties.
Past problems such as the partition of the African continent by the colonial powers, the arbitrary delimitation of the borders between the colonies according to the economic and strategic interests of the European powers, two traumas, namely the colonization and the slave trade, have prevented to realize the creation of nation-states in Africa in a timely manner. This state of affairs has also had an adverse effect on the growth of the African population since African countries had lost their young human resources and producers because of slavery. We must also take into account the psycho-sociological problems created by these developments.
Partition of the continent also meant the division of existing tribes by the colonial powers. This fact also created some problems for the future. Present problems of Africa, however, could be enumerated as follows:
Underdevelopment, poverty, lack of democracy and the rule of law, lack of respect for human rights which means serious violation of human rights, bad-governance, lack of transparency, corruption, leadership problems, intestinal wars, illegal arms trade, trans-boundary disputes and hostilities, genocides and massacres, exploitation of natural resources by some foreign powers, refugees, illegal migration, human trafficking, problems emanating from the adverse effects of globalization, international terrorism, environmental issues such as climate change and drought etc.
All these problems do not fail to create insecurity in African countries, not only an environment of physical insecurity, but also economic, political and social. The above-mentioned problems are also interconnected. On the other hand, it is necessary to take the question of security in a broad sense, latosensu1. Indeed Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the UN stipulates the concept of security as follows:
Africa’s security problems, Democracy and Human Rights, Economic Development, Terrorism, Transparency and Corruption.
For a researcher of international relations, the African continent is only a very rich laboratory where it will be possible to analyze all the problems facing, at the present, the international community.
What are these problems? Before addressing this issue, it must be emphasized that they do not always have their roots in the process of colonization. However, there are certain problems that are caused by the colonial period. This means that the problems of the past are at the root of today’s difficulties.
Past problems such as the partition of the African continent by the colonial powers, the arbitrary delimitation of the borders between the colonies according to the economic and strategic interests of the European powers, two traumas, namely the colonization and the slave trade, have prevented to realize the creation of nation-states in Africa in a timely manner. This state of affairs has also had an adverse effect on the growth of the African population since African countries had lost their young human resources and producers because of slavery. We must also take into account the psycho-sociological problems created by these developments.
Partition of the continent also meant the division of existing tribes by the colonial powers. This fact also created some problems for the future. Present problems of Africa, however, could be enumerated as follows:
Underdevelopment, poverty, lack of democracy and the rule of law, lack of respect for human rights which means serious violation of human rights, bad-governance, lack of transparency, corruption, leadership problems, intestinal wars, illegal arms trade, trans-boundary disputes and hostilities, genocides and massacres, exploitation of natural resources by some foreign powers, refugees, illegal migration, human trafficking, problems emanating from the adverse effects of globalization, international terrorism, environmental issues such as climate change and drought etc.
All these problems do not fail to create insecurity in African countries, not only an environment of physical insecurity, but also economic, political and social. The above-mentioned problems are also interconnected. On the other hand, it is necessary to take the question of security in a broad sense, latosensu1. Indeed Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the UN stipulates the concept of security as follows:
