Featuring case studies of nine African countries, this book provides a comparative perspective on the causes of civil war and the processes by which internal conflict may be resolved or averted. It focuses on the wars in Ethiopia, Liberia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda, as well as the experiences of Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

Taisier Ali and Robert Matthews argue that the forty-year conflict in Sudan is much more complex than the usual view that it results from the pitting of the Arab, Islamic North against the African, Christian South. Shifting the focus to how internal unrest may be managed, Hevina Dashwood examines government initiatives undertaken to maintain stability in Zimbabwe and Cranford Pratt describes the policies and institutions developed by Nyerere that enabled Tanzania to avoid ethnic, regional, and religious factionalism and intra-elite rivalries. James Busumtwi-Sam explores multilateral third-party intervention, highlighting the changing role of the OAU and the United Nations and their effectiveness in averting war. The concluding chapter draws together findings from the individual case studies and incorporates them into the larger corpus of the literature. Taisier M. Ali, formerly professor of political economy at the University of Khartoum, is presently a visiting scholar in the Department of Political Science, University of Toronto. Robert O. Matthews is professor of political science, University of Toronto.

Maps
Preface
Introduction -Taisier M. Ali and Robert O. Matthews
PART ONE: FORCE AS THE MAJOR INSTRUMENT OF RESOLUTION
1. Managing political change: Uganda under Museveni -John Kiyaga-
Nsubuga
2. Liberation politics in Ethiopia and Eritrea -John Prendergast and
Mark Duffield
3. Civil war, the peace process and genocide in Rwanda - Bruce D.
Jones
PART TWO: NEGOTIATION AS THE PRIMARY INSTRUMENT OF RESOLUTION
4. The civil war in Liberia -Elwood Dunn
5. Inside from the outside? The roots and resolution of Mozambique's
un/civil war -
John S. Saul
PART THREE: PROTRACTED CIVIL WARS
6. Somali civil wars - Hussein M. Adam
7. Civil war and the failed peace efforts in Sudan - Taisier M. Ali and
Robert O. Matthews
PART FOUR: CIVIL WARS FORESTALLED
8. Leadership, participation and conflict management: Zimbabwe and
Tanzania - Hevina S. Dashwood
PART FIVE: SECURITY, CONFLICT AND PEACE
9. Redefining "Security" after the Cold War: The OAU, the UN and
conflict management in Africa - Jmaes Busumtwi-Sam
10. Conclusion: Conflict, resolution and building peace - Taisier M.
Ali and Robert O. Matthews
Contributors
Index