Light Weapons And Civil Conflict

A common feature of conflict in the 1990s is death and suffering from small arms and light weapons. The global diffusion of assault rifles, machine guns, mortars, and rocket-propelled grenades, which can be easily carried by an individual or transported by a light vehicle, has greatly intensified the violence of conflicts in countries around the world. This book represents the perspectives of the foremost specialists on light weapons, and it surveys the wide range of policy options open to the international community. These include export and import controls, law enforcement strategies to break up black markets, collection and destruction of weapons following the end of conflict, and efforts to illuminate how small arms and light weapons make their way to the killing grounds of the 1990s.

This handbook provides critical analyses of the theory and practices of small arms proliferation and its impact on conflicts and organized violence in Africa. It examines the terrains, institutions, factors and actors that drive armed conflict and arms proliferation, and further explores the nature, scope, and dynamics of conflicts across the continent, as well as the extent to which these conflicts are exacerbated by the proliferation of small arms. The volume features rich analyses by contributors who are acquainted with, and widely experienced in, the formal and informal structures of arms proliferation and control, and their repercussions on violence, instability and insecurity across Africa. The chapters dissect the challenges of small arms and light weapons in Africa with a view to understanding roots causes and drivers, and generating a fresh body of analyses that adds value to the existing conversation on conflict management and peacebuilding in Africa. With contributions from scholars, development practitioners, defence and security professionals and civil society activists, the handbook seeks to serve as a reference for students, researchers, and policy makers on small arms proliferation, control and regulation; defence and security practitioners; and those involved in countering violence and managing conflicts in Africa.

This handbook provides critical analyses of the theory and practices of small arms proliferation and its impact on conflicts and organized violence in Africa. It examines the terrains, institutions, factors and actors that drive armed conflict and arms proliferation, and further explores the nature, scope, and dynamics of conflicts across the continent, as well as the extent to which these conflicts are exacerbated by the proliferation of small arms. The volume features rich analyses by contributors who are acquainted with, and widely experienced in, the formal and informal structures of arms proliferation and control, and their repercussions on violence, instability and insecurity across Africa. The chapters dissect the challenges of small arms and light weapons in Africa with a view to understanding roots causes and drivers, and generating a fresh body of analyses that adds value to the existing conversation on conflict management and peacebuilding in Africa. With contributions from scholars, development practitioners, defence and security professionals and civil society activists, the handbook seeks to serve as a reference for students, researchers, and policy makers on small arms proliferation, control and regulation; defence and security practitioners; and those involved in countering violence and managing conflicts in Africa. Usman A. Tar is Professor of Political Science and Defence Studies, and Distinguished Endowed Chair of Defence and Security Studies (26RC Endowment) at the Nigerian Defence Academy. He is Director of the Academy's flagship Centre for Defence Studies and Documentation. He is a member of the board of the Social Science Research Council's African Peacebuidling Network (SSRC/APN), New York, USA. Previously he was Associate Research Fellow at the Africa Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Bradford, UK. He authored several books including The Politics of Neoliberal Democracy in Africa (2009), Globalization in Africa: Perspectives on Development, Security and the Environment (2016), New Architecture of Regional Security in Africa (2020), and Routledge Handbook of Counterterrorism and Counterinsurgency in Africa (2020). Charles P. Onwurah is a research associate at the Centre for Defence Studies and Documentation, Nigerian Defence Academy. He is pursuing a PhD in Defence and Strategic Studies at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Nigerian Defence Academy. He has published on globalisation, private security companies, small arms and civil militias in Africa.

This insightful book debates whether conflict within states has emerged as the Achilles Heel of the international community. It covers a wide-range of issues including the roots of internal conflict, small arms supplies, intervention, human rights and international humanitarian law, refugees and post-conflict reconstruction. Internal Conflict and the International Community provides supplementary reading for third level undergraduates, post-graduates and scholars of international relations, comparative politics, development studies, international law and security and defence studies.

Civil war is one of the critical issues of our time. Although intrastate in nature, it has a disproportionate and overwhelming effect on the overall peace and stability of contemporary international society. Organized around the themes of contested nationalism, violence, external intervention, post-conflict reconstruction, reconciliation and governance, Amalendu Misra investigates why civil wars have become so widespread and how can they be contained? Particularly noteworthy is its focus on the "cycle" of conflict, ranging as it does on the causes, conduct, and end of civil wars as well as on subsequent efforts to return post-conflict society to "normal" politics. Theoretically robust and empirically solid, this book clearly charts the course of contemporary civil wars using case studies from a variety of zones of conflict including Africa, Asia and Latin America to produce the most comprehensive guide to understanding civil wars in an interconnected and interdependent world.

Internal conflicts threaten many countries and regions globally. The first part of this book examines the sources of internal conflicts and the ways these may affect neighbouring states and the international community. The second part covers specific problems, policy instruments and key actors.