The Fragility and Fluidity of Nationhood in Africa: Tracing metaphysical travel of Security threats that bedevil the region Africa

Africa has since time immemorial grappled with unique internal security threats which have hugely contributed to the underdevelopment of the region and only to be regarded as a ‘laughing stalk ‘in the international relations. The post-cold war period led to the emergence of non-military threats as opposed to military threats that targeted states during and then before the cold war. These post-cold war threats are within states and target and threaten the peaceful existence of human beings as individuals. Thus, a paradigm shift from state security to human security (that is, moving from the state as the referent object to individuals as referent objects) as articulated in the 1994 UNDP Human Development Report.

In Africa, the threats that emerged were majorly; the questions of identity, ethnicity, religion, migrations, secessionist movements, rogue statehood, civil wars, and many others. These threats not only contributed to what Job Brian calls insecurity dilemma, but also led to fragile states and fluid nationhood in Africa as advanced by Ali Mazrui in his works, ‘Africa between Nationalism and Nationhood’ (Mazrui, 1982). It is believed that the security threats that Africa is grappling with, trace their roots in the concept societal security of the Copenhagen school.

This article thus, intends to project the metaphysical travel of the Copenhagen school’s concept of societal security to Africa. This will be done by exhibiting the manifestations of the concept societal security as packaged by the Copenhagen school, in Africa in a bid to interpret its realities and understand Africa in regional and global security. In other words, the security threats that continue to bedevil the region Africa trace their roots from the Copenhagen’s conception of societal security, and thus, the security mechanisms and frameworks put in place in Africa should intend to confront these threats that befit the description of societal security by the Copenhagen school. So as to pacify the region and liberate the continent from the vicious cycle of these threats, which have since become synonymous with Africa. In this case, the concept region, will mean the one with geographical attachments as envisaged by Barry Buzan and Ole Weaver in their work, ‘Regions and Powers,’ (Buzan and Weaver, 2003).

The article is anchored on the argument that the proliferation of the post-cold war threats led to a paradigm shift that is, diverting the attention from the state as the only referent object to human beings as individuals. In other words, the move from state security to human security as advanced by the 1994 UNDP Human Development Report.

Since the identity of community rather than the sovereignty of the state ultimately constitutes the key variable in the societal security of the Copenhagen theoreticians (Theiler, 2003), then, Africa’s security threats such as; poverty, identity crises, refugees crisis, diseases, rogue statehood, ethnicity, environmental degradation and others have either led to or been a result of the attack on the societal identity and break down of social cohesion which form the theoretical undertones of the concept societal security of the Copenhagen school.  Against that background therefore, I find it prudent to argue beyond reasonable doubt that most conflicts in Africa today are disputes over ethnicity, identity, religion and citizenship, thus, manifesting not only the metaphysical travel of the societal security of the Copenhagen school to Africa, but the concept also found its metaphysical home in the region as Africa.

In that manner therefore, the Copenhagen theoreticians identified threats to societal security, those that alter and also threaten the individual existential security. These may include: cultural cleansing, ethnic cleansing, regionalism and separatism, migrations, depopulation, discrimination, religion, exclusionary nationalism and others.

The aspects of the societal security of the Copenhagen school speak volumes in understanding and interpreting the realities of Africa in regional and global security. In other words, Africa’s security threats trace their origin from the conception of the societal security of the Copenhagen school. This part of the article discusses the manifestations of the societal security of the Copenhagen school in Africa. There are these manifestations that legitimize the metaphysical travel of the Copenhagen school to Africa. These can be discussed as below:

The 1994 Rwandan genocide serves as a clear manifestation of the societal security of the Copenhagen school and its domestication in Africa. The conflict between the majority Hutus against the minority Tutsi claimed over 800000 lives and events that preceded it, present a clear example of social conflict based on exclusionary nationalism and the consequent denial of citizenship (Keller, 2014). The construction of divisive identities by colonialists by favouring the-minority Tutsi and making them superior at the expense of the-majority Hutu, who felt inferior and their absolutely threatened, exacerbating the tendency of few oppressing the many, thus precipitating the majority Hutu to raise the Tutsi in what famously known as the Rwandan genocide.

Class politics and struggles in Africa unquestionably domesticate the societal security of the Copenhagen school on the continent. Its argued that the notion of class politics and struggles and the consistent consumerist pattern of the dominant class as a causal factor in the conflictual and unstable nature of political interaction and attitude in Nigeria and many parts of Africa is instructive of the societal insecurity issues States grapple with. The presence of the irreconcilable struggles between an existent dominant class and subordinate classes over who should hold power is the order of the day in Africa.

The dominant social forces struggle to maintain their domination and the subordinate social forces struggle against their subornation and its related disabilities (Ake, 1989). This is because the identity and hence the security of the subordinates are threatened by the subordination of those in power. In other words, the idea of class politics is central in explaining not only conflicts in Africa and the formation of political attitudes and interactions, but also gives a better understanding of economic, social and political inequality.

Ethnic conflicts in Africa provide a true reflection that the concept societal security and proved that it successfully found a home. Almost every country in Africa has grappled with either severe cases or some aspects of ethnic conflicts which has contributed more to the fragility of the continent and making it more susceptible to other insecurities. It is believed that ethnic conflicts in Africa are contagious and spread very quickly across borders like cancer cells (Irobi, 2005). Competition for scarce resources is believed to be the major cause of ethnic conflicts in Africa. In multi-ethnic communities such as Nigeria and South Africa, ethnic communities struggle and compete for jobs, property, language, property, education, social amenities and others. Ethnic conflicts have occurred and continue to occur in most of the African countries such as; Kenya, South Sudan, Mali, Rwanda, Somalia, Ethiopia and many more. All these have provided a safe haven to the societal security of the Copenhagen school.

Religious conflicts in Africa are also a clear manifestation of the societal security of the Copenhagen school. Although conflicts are often caused by a variety of other factors, such as ethnicity and race, religion has also been at the heart of much of today’s atrocities on the continent. Many African countries have been torn apart by religious conflicts, claiming the lives of many and forcing a thousand into exile. This has been evident in Central African Republic, where the Seleka Moslem rebels target Christians and the in turn, the armed Christians target Muslim civilians. There other African countries most affected by religious conflicts include; Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, Kenya and others. These kinds have continuously ploughed the ground for other sophisticated conflicts like political and ethnic conflicts, thus, leading to a permanent insecurity condition in the region as given to us by Job Brian. Against that background therefore, it is plausible for to argue that the concept of societal security of the Copenhagen school found its way to Africa.

In conclusion, it is beyond reasonable doubt that the Copenhagen theoreticians’ connotations of the concept of the societal security as source of conflicts have not only metaphysically travelled, but the concept has also found a metaphysical home in region as Africa. As manifested in the frequency, consistence and nature of conflicts and other security threats that befall the continent. 

However, all these have plunged the continent into deep despair and bred a moment of darkness; there is still an emancipatory hope for the continent. Although, the projects of Pan-Africanism and the unification of Africa have not achieved the desired outcomes, there are still grounds for optimism, these include, the deepening of democratic ethos in the continent, which is believed to unleash a love of freedom that will supersede fissiparous tendencies that underlie the various notions of Africanity. In other words, democracy as a ‘magic word ‘as given to us by Jurgen Habermas of the Frankfurt school, is the only liberator of the continent. This is because in democracy, we count heads not break them.

Asiimwe Bosco

Is the Director for Security &Strategic Intelligence at the Centre for Multilateral Affairs (CfMA)