Small Arms Proliferation and Armed Conflicts in Africa: The Case of Rwandan Conflict

The end of the cold war has been characterized by a wave of violent civil wars that have produced unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and suffering. Although mostly intra-state, these conflicts have spread across borders and threatened international peace and security through mass refugees flow, proliferation of light arms, and the rise of local mercenary groups. One of the most affected areas is Africa, which has been the home of the world’s most brutal and intractable conflicts for many decades. Beginning with the Liberian crisis which erupted in 1989, conflicts quickly spread to neighbouring Sierra-Leone in 1991. Subsequently, both Mali and Niger fought bitter wars with secessionist Tuareg rebels, while Senegal battled Casamance separatists (Kabia 2009). Guinea Bissau erupted into full scale war in 1997 following a power struggle between mutinous section of the army and the civilian government of president Nino Vieira. In September 2000, rebels from across the border of Liberia and Sierra-Leone invaded parts of Guinea, and by 2002, an army mutiny in Cote d’Ivoire commenced another round of conflicts in the continent.