ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the nature of the new security threats faced by Africa, in particular the non-military dimensions and sources of threat to security, and the potential to instigate armed conflicts. It examines how the regionalisation of wars and armed conflicts has hindered or facilitated the building of a regional peace and security system in Africa. The chapter discusses a critical exploration of the link between peace, security, conflict and development in Africa. Diverse theoretical interpretations and labellings have been used to explain and describe wars and armed conflicts in Africa, in particular the post-Cold War conflicts. The civil wars also constantly swing from 'low' to 'high-intensity' warfare. The wars of national liberation were also coloured with the Cold War ideological conflict and competition, and the majority of the wars of self-determination were interpreted as communist/socialist-based insurgencies against the capitalist west. The secessionist wars in Nigeria, Western Sahara, and Zaire were also about armed struggle to control strategic resources.
