Sub-Saharan Africa Essay

Sub-Saharan Africa:
The Causes of Postcolonial State Failure

On the vast continent of Africa, there are fifty-three countries; of these only six are not located below the Sahara Desert. This leaves the Sub-Saharan region of Africa to encompass a total of forty-seven countries. Many of these countries south of the Sahara have been in state failure, either partial or complete collapse of state authority. This has led to an inability to provide for economic development and a source of security. These failed states have governments with little political authority or ability to impose the rule of law, and are usually associated with widespread crime, conflict, or devastating humanitarian crises. Africa's problems are myriad and intricate; the rulers in Sub-Saharan Africa have struggled to develop autonomous and cohesive states during the postcolonial era giving rise to the fact that almost half of the world’s failing states are located here. The reasons for this wide spread failure below the Sahara include the following: intervention of Europeans through colonialism and slavery, poverty and low rankings in the Human Development Index, along with political instability and the rushed attempt of the democratization processes. The challenges in Africa are numerous and complex. Socially and economically Africa has not developed to the extent of the rest of the world; one of the main causes of this has been the enslavement of the African people and the exploitation and colonization of their land by European influences. Slavery, while increasing the population of people in Europe and the Americas had a stagnant effect on the population of

Bibliography: "Human Development Reports." United Nations Development Programme. United Nations, 2009. Web. 16 Mar 2010. Carey, Henry. "The Postcolonial State and the Protection of Human Rights ." Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 22.1-2 (2002): 59- 75. Web. 16 Mar 2010. Chege, Michael. "Sierra Leone: The State that Came Back from the Dead." Washington Quarterly 25.3 (2002): 147-159. Web. 16 Mar 2010. Cilliers, Jakkie. "Security and Transition in South Africa." Journal of Democracy 6.4 (1995): 35-49. Web. 16 Mar 2010. Collins, Robert, and James Burns. A History of Sub-Saharan Africa. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 310-388. Print. Curto, José. "Experiences of Enslavement in West Central Africa." Social History 41.82 (2008): 381-415. Web. 16 Mar 2010. Englebert, Pierre, and Denis Tull. "Postconflict Reconstruction in Africa Flawed Ideas about Failed States." International Security 32.4 (2008): 105-139. Web. 17 Mar 2010. Kaarsholm, Preben King, Gary, and Langche Zeng. "Improving Forecasts of State Failure ." World Politics 53.4 (2001): 623-658. Web. 16 Mar 2010. Lange, Matthew, and Andrew Dawson Ndulo, Muna. "The Democratization Process and Structural Adjustment in Africa." Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 10.1 (2003): 315-367. Web. 16 Mar 2010. Prunier, Gerard Stock, Robert. Africa South of the Sahara. 2nd. New York: The Guilford Press, 2004. 129-138. Print. Sweet, John Thies, Cameron. "National Design and State Building in Sub-Saharan Africa." World Politics 61.4 (2009): 622-664. Web. 16 Mar 2010. Van de Poel, Ellen, Owen O 'Donnell, and Eddy Van Doorslaer Western, Jon. "Sources of Humanitarian Intervention Beliefs, Information, and Advocacy in the U.S. Decisions on Somalia and Bosnia." International Security 26.4 (2002): 112-142. Web. 16 Mar 2010. -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. Kaarsholm, Preben. Cultural Struggle & Development in Southern Africa. London: James Currey Ltd, 1991. 3-5. Print. [ 2 ]. Lange, Matthew, and Andrew Dawson. "Dividing and Ruling the World? A Statistical Test of the Effects of Colonialism on Postcolonial Civil Violence." Social Forces 88.2 (2009): 785-807. Web. 16 Mar 2010. [ 3 ]. Prunier, Gerard. The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide. New York: Columbia University Press, 1995. 197-200. Print. [ 4 ]. Cilliers, Jakkie. "Security and Transition in South Africa." Journal of Democracy 6.4 (1995): 35-49. Web. 16 Mar 2010. [ 5 ]. Ndulo, Muna. "The Democratization Process and Structural Adjustment in Africa." Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 10.1 (2003): 315-367. Web. 16 Mar 2010. [ 6 ]. Van de Poel, Ellen, Owen O 'Donnell, and Eddy Van Doorslaer. "What Explains the Rural-Urban Gap in Infant Mortality: Household or Community Characteristics?." Demography 46.4 (2010): 827-848. Web. 17 Mar 2010. [ 7 ]. Ndulo, Muna. "The Democratization Process and Structural Adjustment in Africa." Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 10.1 (2003): 315-367. Web. 16 Mar 2010. [ 8 ]. "Human Development Reports." United Nations Development Programme. United Nations, 2009. Web. 16 Mar 2010. [ 9 ]. Chege, Michael. "Sierra Leone: The State that Came Back from the Dead." Washington Quarterly 25.3 (2002): 147-159. Web. 16 Mar 2010. [ 10 ]. Stock, Robert. Africa South of the Sahara. 2nd. New York: The Guilford Press, 2004. 129-138. Print. [ 11 ]. Western, Jon. "Sources of Humanitarian Intervention Beliefs, Information, and Advocacy in the U.S. Decisions on Somalia and Bosnia." International Security 26.4 (2002): 112-142. Web. 16 Mar 2010. [ 12 ]. Collins, Robert, and James Burns. A History of Sub-Saharan Africa. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 310-388. Print.