OromianEconomist

Africa: Archaic and colonial boundaries are no longer representative of the peoples living within them March 1, 2013

‘The Yugoslav Wars exposed the bitter, entrenched divides between peoples and religions in the Balkans and took almost a decade of continued conflict, numerous international interventions (some more effective than others) and continued UN presence before peace in the region returned. The idea of sub-Saharan Africa ‘Balkanizing’ into nation states is a terrifying thought indeed. The right to self-determination is enshrined in the highest echelons of the United Nations; it is the reason why the Falkland Islands will remain in British hands despite being 8000miles from London; why the Scots will vote in 2014 over dismantling the United Kingdom and why Cataluña are aiming for similar successes in Spain. The Scots and Catalans argue that they are nations distinct and separate from that of the power that rules over them and that they are caught in archaic national boundaries which are no longer representative of the peoples living within them. Africa’s borders remain archaic and colonial; arbitrary lines in the sand sketched by generals and statesmen in London and Paris that serve to divide peoples, communities and nations, forcing them to be ruled by people with whom they share little but who they rely on for everything. Whilst we celebrate separatist movements in Europe we continue to dismiss them in Africa as tribal disputes, or as Jihadist land grabs or anything else that allows other countries to ignore a deep-seated issue. The wholesale redrawing of the African continent along national, ethnic lines is impossible, but if the conflicts of Mali and Sudan can teach us anything it is that the separatist cry across the continent is becoming louder and louder. The further fracturing of the continent seems almost inevitable.’

http://world-outline.com/2013/02/africanborders/

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