What are the Obstacles to Resolve Chad's Conflict - Research Paper Example

 What are the obstacles to resolve Chad's conflict? 1. Introduction The management of crises developed at national level has been one of the major problems for governments worldwide. In most countries, the appearance of severe political and social conflicts is related to certain facts or initiatives related to the strategic choices of local governments. In other words, conflicts in countries around the world are usually related, either directly or indirectly, to inappropriate political decisions. In Chad, a similar problem seems to exist. The obstacles in regard to the resolution of the Chad’s conflict are presented in this paper. The researchers who have studied the specific issue have given different explanations to the particular conflict. All these explanations seem to have a common characteristic: their reference to the relationship between Chad’s conflict and the decisions of the country’s government. Moreover, it has been proved that the conflict in Chad would be terminated only if the efforts for stabilizing the country’s political framework would be led to a success this target could be achieved only by the cooperation of all conflicting social groups that currently support the continuation of the crisis. 2. Chad’s conflict – overview The conflict in Chad has been quite long. In fact, the political and social instability in Chad have appeared almost since the country’s establishment as an independent state, in 1960 (Eriksson & Hagstromer 2005, p.34). The continuous armed conflicts developed across Chad have been the key aspect of the country’s conflict (Eriksson & Hagstromer 2005, p.34). In 2003, Chad’s conflict was expanded, being related to the crisis in Darfur. Since the beginning of the crisis in Darfur, thousands of refugees have entered Chad trying to secure their life (Eriksson & Hagstromer 2005, p.34). Moreover, the government of Chad has tried to mediate for the resolution of the problem, but no particular progress was made (Eriksson & Hagstromer 2005, p.34). The risk for the expansion of the civil war of Darfur in Chad has been high; this threat still exists since stability in Darfur has not been secured. It should be noted that it was around 2003 that Chad ‘became an oil producing country’ (Beri & Sinha 2009, p.190). The above fact has caused the increase of the interest of international community on Chad’s conflict, a conflict that has been irrelevant to oil (Beri & Sinha 2009, p.190). Indeed, it seems that the key reason of the Chad’s conflict is the ‘willingness of political groups to take the control of the country’ (Beri & Sinha 2009, p.190). This opposition has led to the strong conflicts between the army and the rebels (Beri & Sinha 2009, p.190). With the involvement of Chad in oil production, countries that have interests on this activity have shown their interest for contributing in the termination of the conflict (Beri & Sinha 2009, p.190). However, since the Chad’s conflict is supported by internal forces it is rather difficult to be controlled or terminated (Beri & Sinha 2009, p.190). Of course, the fact that interests of foreign countries, as reflected to the interests of their multinationals, have been related to the Chad’s oil production cannot be ignored when exploring the obstacles towards the resolution of the Chad’s conflict. In the literature different views have been developed in regard to the reasons of the Chad’s conflict. Under these terms, it can be noted that the obstacles for resolving the Chad’s conflict can be many, as explained below. 3. What are the obstacles to resolve Chad’s conflict? The appearance and the development of the Chad’s conflict are related to a series of facts. At a first level, Chad has managed to become an independent state just in 1960 (Wright 1989, p.124). France has accepted to recall its troops from the country, as also from other African countries, in order to show its respect to the ‘treaty of friendship and good neighbourliness of 1955’ (Wright 1989, p.123). Indeed, in 1960 the French troops left Chad; in practice, the influence of France in Chad has remained strong for the years that followed (Wright 1989, p.123). This means that the independency of Chad, as a state, is not full, at least not in practice. According to Wright (1989) after its liberation, Chad tried to identify alliances, so that it is able to survive within the international community (Wright 1989, p.124). Libya, a state formerly occupied by France, like Chad, seemed to be the ideal ally (Wright 1989, p.124). However, Libya did not wish to follow the practice of Chad, i.e. to become fully independent from the West (Wright 1989, p.124). In opposition, Libya has tried to achieve ‘the financial support of USA and Britain’ (Wright 1989, p.124) for developing its economy and its infrastructures. Chad that would like to enjoy a full independency from the West could not adopt such strategy (Wright 1989, p.124). It is perhaps this target, the achievement of an absolute independency from the West that led Chad to the isolation and increased the instability of its economy. At the next level, the conflicts over the country’s ruling and financial stability led to armed conflicts that were expanded rapidly across the country. In other words, the key obstacles towards the elimination of Chad’s conflicts are two: a) the isolation of the country in the context of the international community, a phenomenon resulted by the country’s willingness to achieve a full independency from the West and b) the lack of powerful allies, a problem related to the lack of effective cooperation between Chad and other African countries that have faced similar challenges with Chad. Abegunrin (2003) offers a different explanation for the appearance and the continuation of the conflict in Chad. According to the above researcher, Chad has been always strongly depended on France (Abegunrin 2003, p.73). Moreover, Abegunrin (2003) claims that France has never abandoned its rights on Chad, a view that it is verified through the following fact: every time that a crisis appears in a country neighboring to Chad, the French government sends troops for managing the crisis (Abegunrin 2003, p.73). Reference can be made, as an example to the appearance of French troops in Chad ‘during the civil war in Nigeria, in 1968-1969’ (Abegunrin 2003, p.74). It is noted that Nigeria has repeatedly tried to get the Chad’s consent for the formulation of a strong alliance in the greater region, but with no success (Abegunrin 2003, p.74). It seems that, despites its willingness for independency from the West, Chad does not wish to destroy its relationship with France (Abegunrin 2003, p.74). The specific practice of Chad has caused to the country severe social and financial turbulences. Denying following a particular strategy and being partially depended on France, Chad has been unable to formulate a solid political framework, being exposed to the conflicting interests of various political groups activating within the country (Abegunrin 2003, p.74). According to the view of Abegunrin (2003), as explained above, the key obstacle towards the resolution of the Chad’s conflict seems to be the following: lack of clear and solid political framework; rejecting the proposal for becoming a member of a strong alliance, Chad has given the impression of a country that faces highly political instability; internal and external enemies has used the specific weakness of the country to lead it to a long term political and social crisis. From a similar point of view, Jessup (1998) emphasizes on a particular practice of France: each time that social conflicts appeared in Chad, French troops were sent to the country for managing the crisis (Jessup 1998, p.117). Reference is made, as an example, to the appearance in 1991 of rebels around the Chad Lake (Jessup 1998, p.117). France decided then to send troops for controlling the expansion of conflicts (Jessup 1998, p.117). This practice was continued the next year, 1992, when these conflicts were further expanded leading the government to answer with ‘a massacre of southern natives in 1993’ (Jessup 1998, p.117). In the above case it is made clear that the government in Chad has not tried to introduce a specific policy for promoting social stability and for securing the safety of citizens (Jessup 1998, p.117). Rather, the development of oppositions from groups of rebels seems to be uncontrolled, with the efforts to manage the crisis to be directed towards the local population, even if the involvement of the population to armed conflict is not sufficiently verified (Jessup 1998, p.117). Also, in the example mentioned above the following fact is made clear: France has been given the right by the Chad’s government to enter the country every time that the national security is threatened. Still, it is not explained how French troops has helped towards the control of the conflict. In the above case, French troops have supported the initiatives of the government without proceeding to an open fight with the rebels, as it could be possibly expected. It has been also revealed that in Chad the French troops act under the orders of the Chad’s government. This fact offers a different explanation of the Chad’s conflict. More specifically, it seems that the Chad’s conflict is the result of the strong opposition between political interests that are difficult to be controlled but which need political instability so that they can better served. From this point of view, as reflected in the study of Jessup (1998), the involvement of France in Chad’s conflict is not critical. Rather France tries to keep its relationship with the country’s government so that its interests in the greater region are effectively supported. In the above context, the key obstacle in the resolution of Chad’s crisis is the lack of a political scheme that will not allow the use of the country’s governance for the promotion of private interests. Bannon & Collier (2003) also note that political instability is the key obstacle towards the resolution of the Chad’s conflict. It is explained that the level of political instability in Chad is such that investors are ‘discouraged from investing on the country’ (Bannon & Collier 2003, p.345) even if Chad has become an oil production country, a fact that is expected to support the improvement of life for local population. According to Gebreworld-Tochalo (2009) the crisis is Chad, as also in Darfur, is difficult to be controlled as it is not related only to internal conflicts. It is explained that the particular crisis has ‘regional aspects’ (Gebreworld-Tochalo 2009, p.185). It is explained that Chad used to have a critical role in securing the political stability in Central Africa (Gebreworld-Tochalo 2009, p.185). In this context, Chad has developed a strategic alliance with Sudan, an alliance that ‘was terminated in 2004, negatively affecting the Central African Republic’ (Gebreworld-Tochalo 2009, p.185). In other words, Chad could have a major role in the development of a strong regional alliance, a prospect that would not be welcomed by certain members of the international community the interests of which in the particular region would be threatened. For this reason, it is noted that the obstacles for the resolution of the Chad’s conflict are not just ‘internal but also regional’ (Gebreworld-Tochalo 2009, p.185). 4. Conclusion In Chad, as in other countries, the role of politics in the effective management of all the country’s issues is critical. However, in Chad emphasis has been given not on the stabilization of the country’s political and social life but rather on the identification of sufficient financial support so that the country’s economic needs are covered. Moreover, Chad’s government had options to make in resolving the above problem. It could choose to develop a strong alliance with Nigeria, as it was asked to, promoting in this way both its political and economic independency. Chad’s government chose a different direction, preferring to protect its relationship with France even if this strategy would threaten its political stability. Through the decades the effects of this strategy have been made clear: the conflict in Chad remains active, a fact that has been related to the unwillingness of the country’s government to secure the country’s sovereignty, as an independent state. In any case, the conflict in Chad seems to be difficult to be managed as the obstacles related to the crisis are many and their elimination requires primarily the development of solid political decisions which, at least currently, seem to be in opposition with the government’s priorities, as analyzed above. References Abegunrin, O. (2003). Nigerian Foreign Policy Under Military Rule, 1966-1999. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group Bannon, I. & Collier, P. (2003). Natural Resources and Violent Conflict: Options and Actions. Washington: World Bank Publications Beri, R. & Sinha, U. (2009). Africa and Energy Security: Global Issues, Local Responses. New Delhi: Academic Foundation. Eriksson, H. & Hagstromer, B. (2005). Chad: Towards Democratisation Or Petro-Dictatorship? Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute Gebrewold-Tochalo, B. (2009). Anatomy of Violence: Understanding the Systems of Conflict and Violence in Africa. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd Jessup, J. (1998). An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Conflict and Conflict Resolution, 1945-1996. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group Wright, J. (1989) Libya, Chad And The Central Sahara. London: C. Hurst & Co. Publishers Read More