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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Debating Secession and the Recognition of New States in Africa
Author:Spears, Ian S.ISNI
Year:2004
Periodical:African Security Review
Volume:13
Issue:2
Pages:35-48
Language:English
Geographic term:Africa
Subjects:State recognition
State collapse
Politics and Government
Inter-African Relations
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10246029.2004.9627283
Abstract:Africans and non-Africans alike have been puzzled by Africa's apparent resistance to standard models of development and conflict resolution. The possibility that reforming the African State system might improve Africa's prospects for development and peace is perhaps only the latest hypothesis to be debated among scholars. To date, however, there has been little consensus on how State reconstitution might work, or even whether it would work. Following a section on possible causes of the weakness of Africa's current State system, this paper first presents arguments in favour of reforming Africa's State system, suggesting that the experiences in Somalia show that sub-State entities may be the way of the future; and that reform is the only means to eliminate or even manage violent conflict between groups. Next, arguments in favour of the status quo are discussed. These arguments not only question the motivations for, and the actual benefits of, reform and the recognition of new African States, but also express concerns that, by creating a precedent, a possible chain reaction of secessions might occur. The paper's final section looks at alternatives which address the needs of local populations but do not necessarily involve the redrawing of State borders or the creation of new States, and the role of the international community in this. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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