The construction of Africa as the other has meant that factors commonly used to explain war elsewhere have been neglected in SubSaharan Africa. The political power struggle which evolved around the state is at the forefront of the analysis of civil war and societal conflict. This text argues that African civil wars arise from political struggle rather than ethnic conflict. It aims to offer new perspectives on conflicts in Rawanda, Congo-Brazzaville, Liberia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Somalia. Taking a multidiscipliniary approach, the book examines these situations from political, philisophical, cultural, economic, historical, regional and international perspectives.

The book examines, among other issues, the emergence of civil war as a result of political struggles. The construction of Africa as the 'other' has meant that factors commonly used to explain war elsewhere have been neglected in SubSaharan Africa. The political power struggle which evolved around the state is at the forefront of the analysis of civil war and societal conflict.