This book provides an extensive examination of the major conflicts in the extremely volatile region of sub-Saharan Africa and their ramifications throughout the continent and beyond.
The Congo Wars have claimed 4 million lives, making it the deadliest conflict since World War II. Sudan's Darfur is experiencing an ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign that has killed at least 200,000 people and displaced millions more. Sadly, these are only two of the many hot spots that mark sub-Saharan Africa.
Conflict has been a critical factor in the making of contemporary Africa, and its study is key to understanding the continent's tortuous history. Hot Spot: Sub-Saharan Africa analyzes the area's major, post-independence conflicts intense enough to threaten national, regional, or international security.
This work defines conflict broadly to encompass political instability and state failure, ethno-religious tensions, government and political corruption, economic mismanagement and poverty, cult violence, and youth gangsterism. Thematically organized chapters examine the origins and development of explosive hot spots—including Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda, and Democratic Republic of Congo—in West Africa, Nigeria, Southern Africa, the Horn of Africa and Central Africa, and the Great Lakes region. The book also explores outside factors that have impacted African conflicts, such as superpower Cold War manipulation and foreign influence and intervention.
Features
• Maps of regions and countries showing conflict areas such as Biafra and Katanga
• Photographs of key figures, places, and events
Highlights
• Covers the major conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa in a single volume
• Defines conflicts broadly to encompass civil wars, guerrilla insurgencies, revolutionary movements, terrorism, corruption, and crisis of governance
• Offers in-depth, yet easy-to-understand coverage that will be of immeasurable value to anyone interested in the conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa, including scholars, policymakers, and the general public
Toyin Falola, PhD, is the Frances Higginbotham Nalle Centennial Professor in History and a Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas, Austin, TX. He is a fellow of the Historical Society of Nigeria and a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters. Dr. Falola has received numerous awards and honors, including the Jean Holloway Award for Teaching Excellence, the Texas Exes Teaching Award, and the Ibn Khaldun Distinguished Award for Research Excellence. He has published numerous books, including Key Events in African History: A Reference Guide; Nationalism and African Intellectuals; and many edited books including Tradition and Change in Africa: The Essays of J.F. Ade. Ajayi and African Writers and Readers. He is the coeditor of the African Economic History journal, series editor of Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora, and editor of the Greenwood series Culture and Customs of Africa.
Adebayo O. Oyebade, PhD, is a professor of history at Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN. He obtained his PhD in history from Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. Oyebade has published many books, book chapters, and journal articles. He is the author of Greenwood's Culture and Customs of Angola; editor of The Foundations of Nigeria: Essays in Honor of Toyin Falola, and The Transformation of Nigeria: Essays in Honor of Toyin Falola; and coeditor of Africa after the Cold War: The Changing Perspectives on Security. Dr. Oyebade has been a recipient of scholarly awards including the Ford Foundation and the Fulbright. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of History and Diplomatic Studies.
