State In Africa

Conceptualizing Territories
By Frédéric GIRAUT
The social use of the term “territory” has tended to proliferate in the context of globalization. French-language geography has also indulged an immoderate use of the concept. The apparent paradox has made the contemporary notion of territory the target of detractors who see it as something obsolete (a product of modernity now superseded by a de-territorializing postmodernism), too reductive (not allowing for a grasp of the mobile aspect of spatial relationships), and mystifying (masking the true social issues, further dismantling the welfare state). These criticisms suggest that the term should be re-conceptualized rather than dropped, given that territorial complexity is a given of postmodernism. Nor dropping the term is likely to happen anytime soon, sinceusage currently ranges from a portmanteau word synonymous with region or area to a specifcally geopolitical notion based on the delimited extension of state sovereignty. Between the extensive and restrictive uses of the concept, cultural and political geographies converge on the necessarily “constructed” nature of the territorial object. Contradictions nevertheless remain between these constructivist approaches; the most promising paths for overcoming them call for a clear grasp of territorial confgurations and ideologies. Proposals are thus offered here for rendering the concept functional on a political level, notably by making a clear distinction between theterm and the zone or area it applies to.

À travers la description de leurs bases idéologiques, de leurs structures administratives et militaires, à travers aussi l’analyse des nombreuses relations qui les ont réunis, cet article vise à mettre en relation deux historiographies trop souvent séparées. Il s’agit aussi de sortir d’une histoire des Européens en Afrique pour favoriser l’analyse de la trajectoire politique et économique du sud-ouest de l’océan Indien, fondée sur des sources de différentes origines. Cette analyse comparative montre qu’il y eut, au cœur de la mondialisation du xixe siècle, un concert des nations indianocéaniques composé d’États, marchand pour Zanzibar, agraire pour le royaume de Madagascar, et qui, loin d’être passifs, surent se consolider tout au long du siècle.

Discute-se como o Brasil pode contribuir para a formação do Exército nacional e construção dos Estados africanos mediante um modelo próprio de inserção internacional em gestação, baseado em um conceito particular de direitos humanos e na cooperação técnica internacional. Essa possibilidade pode ser ampliada no caso do Congo.

This paper addresses two related topics: 1) the circular link between food insecurity and conflict, with particular emphasis on the Sahel, and 2) the potential role of food security interventions in reducing the risk of violent conflicts. While we eschew mono-causal explanations of conflict, acute food insecurity can be a factor in popular mobilization and a risk multiplier. Moreover, violent conflict itself is a major driver of acute food insecurity. If food insecurity is a threat multiplier for conflict, improving food security can reduce tensions and contribute to more stable environments. If these interventions are done right, the vicious cycle of food insecurity and conflict can be transformed into a virtuous cycle of food security and stability that provides peace dividends, reduces conflict drivers, enhances social cohesion, rebuilds social trust, and builds the legitimacy and capacity of governments.

The weakness of regional security cooperation has been a key factor in the gradual destabilization of the Sahel-Sahara region over the past decade. While organized crime, extremist activity, and cross-border movements of arms and fighters have strengthened linkages among non-state actors in the region, state policies have failed to keep up. With the escalation of the crisis in Mali, West African states have adopted an approach diverging strongly from that of Mali’s North African neighbours. Western governments’ tendency to understand insecurity in the region through the notion of the Sahel has compounded the problem. Insecurity in the region, including criminal and extremist networks, is more Saharan than Sahelian in scope. North African states are part of the problem, and need to be part of the solution. A new framework for regional cooperation is needed – and while this can only be established on the initiative of regional states themselves, external actors need to adapt their policies to help such a framework emerge.

This article argues how Brazil can contribute for the formation of the National Army and construction of the African states by means of an embryonic particular model of international insertion, based on a specific concept of human rights and on the International Technical Cooperation. This possibility can be extended in the case of the Congo.

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