Demilitarisation, disarmament & development in Southern Africa

Theories of how and why violent conflicts occur generally distinguish between structural factors on the one hand and accelerating or triggering factors on the other (Azar, 1990). Structural factors, which must be viewed as long term, include interrelated political, social and economic elements, such as the failure to meet basic human needs, population pressure, unequal distribution of wealth, depletion of natural resources, environmental degradation and ethnic tensions. Accelerating or triggering factors on the other hand, operate in the context of the above adverse structural factors but involve specific events, attitudes or decisions of dominant actors, which provoke or encourage violence. Triggering factors include the unequal distribution of power, the abuse of military power, the proliferation of small arms ideological conflict, struggles related to natural resources. How these triggers activate violence depends heavily upon the specific context. By examining the process of disarmament and demilitarisation within the southern African region, this article seeks to highlight the contradictions between treating the symptoms rather than the underlying causes of violence. In the final section some lessons from the region's experience will be highlighted which might be pertinent to national and international attempts at establishing peace and stability in future conflict zones.