In sub-Saharan African countries that have made democratic transition from military
rule and military-backed authoritarian regimes, state elites have embarked upon
strategies aimed at demilitarising the new democratic political process. Demilitarisation
of the state and politics has become an imperative because it is decisive for
consolidating democratic politics and for ensuring improvements in public safety and
security. Yet the process of such demilitarisation in these countries has often generated
a paradox, whereby the reduction of the political influence of state institutions of
violence has been associatedw ith rising civil militarism and the prevalenceo f organised
violence in the wider society.
In these circumstances, taking cognisance of the dangers of civil militarism and other
forms of private violence is a priority for designing and implementing demilitarisation
strategies and other security reforms in post-authoritarian African states. Reformminded
political elites and external supporters need to be sensitive to these dangers or
risk perpetuating the shell of electoral democracy that cannot deliver the goal of human
security in the region. This dissertation explored how the current approach to
demilitarisation is related to the problem of civil militarism by examining the case
studies of Nigeria and South Africa. It explains that given the condition of the state in
Africa, demilitarisation of politics after transition from military or military-backed
authoritarianism contributes to the emergence of civil militarism. Based on this finding,
it argues for a comprehensive approach to demilitarisation as a strategy that caters to
both state and societal violence in order to mitigate the risks of civil militarism in the
process.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:CRANFIELD1/oai:dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk:1826/3887 |
| Date | 27 October 2009 |
| Creators | Isima, J |
| Contributors | Fitz-Gerald, Prof A, Luckham, R |
| Publisher | Department of Defence Management and Security Analysis |
| Source Sets | CRANFIELD1 |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or dissertation, Doctoral, PhD |
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