ABSTRACT
In spite of the efforts of the multilateral organisations discussed in the preceding chapter, the divisions and difference in Part I have resulted in grave injustices such as the genocide in Rwanda, xenophobia in South Africa, slave trade in Libya and so on. Many cases like the aforementioned ones are ‘recurring decimals’. Yet in many of these cases, fighting for justice is a project in futility because doing justice to the victims of these atrocities may destabilise the status quo, i.e., the existing order. For this reason, although the order and justice dilemma is an old dilemma in world politics, it remains relevant. The problem with the precedence of order is that it tends to lead to unpleasant scenarios in which serious justice and human rights concerns are disregarded – it could be a case of ‘might makes right’. However, the precedence of justice may in extreme cases lead to anarchy, thereby not only undermining peace and stability but paradoxically also undermining justice and human rights. Contending that the order and justice dilemma is a false one, this chapter shows how and why it is simultaneously possible and reasonable to combine order and justice without prioritising one at the expense of the other in African international politics.
