Small Wars Journal

Welcome to the New Age of Military Intervention in Africa

Mon, 01/20/2014 - 4:20pm

Welcome to the New Age of Military Intervention in Africa by Peter Dörrie, War is Boring

… It’s a new age of military intervention by Africans in Africa. And the implications are huge for the entire world.

In some ways, the situation is reminiscent of the 1990s and early years of this millennium, when civil wars across the African continent drew in African powers and countries from all over the world. The difference today is that African countries intervene on behalf of embattled neighboring governments, not against them.

Supporting rebel groups is out. Only pariah governments like Sudan and Eritrea still engage in the practice…

Read on.

Comments

davidbfpo

Mon, 01/20/2014 - 4:48pm

Peter's article misses that many of the national interventions are NOT funded by the nation-states themselves, but by a mix of EU, UN and US money. Yes, in Somalia two neighbours are present, Ethiopia and Kenya.

Would African countries intervene if they footed the bill themselves? Or if some of the richer AU nations paid? I think we know the answer, NO.

Africa sadly abounds in examples of states where external intervention MAY assist their 'embattled governments', more often it seems to be an ever open chasm into which resources are poured. Look at Somalia, how often do we see the troops of the Somali state, or news of casualties? Rarely, apart form reports of external funding of countless thousands being trained.

A 'New Age', hardly.