GREED OR GRIEVANCE IN WEST AFRICA’S FOREST WARS?

Abstract

After the end of the Cold War and the improvement of relations between the super powers, violent conflicts continued to be part of Africa?s political reality. Between 1992 and 2001, the number of armed conflicts outside Africa dropped by half, yet in Africa the number stayed roughly the same (Ross, 2003). Richards (2001, p. 65, referring to Duffield, 1998) identified a new type of forest war on the rise in the western half of the continent, stretching from Zaire to Liberia. These wars, largely fought over and sustained by natural resources, signify a break with old conflicts which were largely rooted in positions created by ColdWar animosities. Apart from some exceptions such as Angola, such proxy conflicts (some of which continue until today) were located on the eastern side of the continent, from the Horn of Africa to Mozambique.