Building peace in warlord situations

Abstract

Peace operations are a relatively new phenomenon that emerged in the 20th Century. Because of a more interconnected world due to globalization, they have undergone rapid development as the nature of crises to which international intervenors respond have evolved to include events that were formerly considered sovereign affairs of a state. One such problem, pertaining more often than not to African countries, is the collapse of the state and the ascendancy of a warlord who exploits the state's resources for personal gain. International interventions in such a situation run the risk of having to return to retrace steps previously taken unless the true nature of the problem is addressed. This inherently requires solutions that go beyond the immediate cessation of hostilities toward far-reaching state-building goals. It is a difficult objective to achieve, and requires undoing the circumstances that allowed the country to devolve into warlordism in the first place. Understanding how warlordism develops and then raising critical issues for intervenors in such a situation, using Sierra Leone as a case study, will be constructive for future interventions under similar circumstances.