Ripe for Resolution: Conflict and Intervention in Africa de I. William Zartman

Ripe for Resolution: Conflict and Intervention in Africa: Council on Foreign Relations

I. William Zartman

What causes local conflict in Africa and the rest of the Third World? What role, if any, can the U.S. play in helping to resolve these conflicts, and when is the time ripe for a response by an external power? This study, written by an internationally renowned Africanist and undertaken as
part of the Africa Project of the Council on Foreign Relations, examines the causes and nature of African conflict and addresses the issue of how foreign powers can contribute productively to the management and resolution of such conflicts without resorting to the use of military force. Completely
revised to incorporate up-to-the-minute information, the book focuses on four case studies of local conflict and external response--in the Western Sahara, the Horn of Africa, the Shaba province in Zaire, and Namibia--to assess various approaches to conflict management, and offers guidelines for
identifying the critical moment for effective external response. The updated paper edition shows how the recommendations offered for conflict resoultion in the first edition have come to fruition, perhaps most dramatically with the recent withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola. Zartman also
evaluates U.S. policy toward Third World conflict and spells out a policy toward Africa and the Third World in general that is based on preemptive treatment rather than military intervention.

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Descriere

Local political conflicts on the African continent have had repercussions in the cold war situation with alarming frequency. This book addresses the question of why routine conflicts so often become crises in Africa and the rest of the Third World, and asks what role external powers play in these situations. Written by internationally renowned Africanist I. William Zartman, this book is part of the Africa Project of the Council on Foreign Relations. It examines the sources of African conflict and the nature of previous American responses, and addresses the issue of how foreign powers can productively contribute to the resolution of such conflicts without resorting to the use of military force. The book focuses on positive intervention in four cases of local conflicts: in the Shaba province inZaire, where Zartman found that intervention was appropriate but late; in Namibia, where an eight-year initiative by the Reagan administration has resulted in a conclusive treaty; in the Horn of Africa, where intervention was impossible; and in the Sahara, where it was sadly lacking. Updated and revisedto include the latest developments in Namibia and Angola, the book assesses various approaches to conflict management, evaluates overall U.S. policy toward Third World conflict, and spells out a new policy toward Africa and the Third World in general that is based on pre-emptive treatment rather than military intervention.