Armaments, Underdevelopment and Demilitarisation in Africa

Abstract

The process of militarization in Africa includes not only the actual acquisition of weapons, but also the extension of military values into political and social structures. This has contributed to an expansion in the size and power of the military establishment, to a reliance on repression by authoritarian regimes, to the continuance of internal and external war, and to an ideology that equates national sovereignty with military power. The background of this militarization lies in the domination of Africa by Western imperial interests. As such, Western proposals for disarmament generate suspicion; they are viewed as simply one more means to keep Africa subordinate. The continued militarization of the continent, however, can only help sustain this dependence and deepen the contradictions in African societies.