Abstract
In the nineteenth century, the European colonial powers divided Africa between them in the so-called ‘scramble for Africa’, without much or any consideration for ethnicity, language, and culture. Despite this arbitrariness and the full decolonisation of the continent in the wake of the Second World War and subsequent Cold War, these territorial delimitations have largely remained unchanged. There had been, as historians such as Frederick Cooper have shown, alternative African visions and related attempts for an independent Africa; ranging from federations to Pan-Africanist continental integration. During the Cold War and via emerging African international systems, however, states based on the former colonial boundaries ultimately prevailed, and their sovereignty and integrity were almost considered sacrosanct and thus respected and protected. This was notably reflected in the charter of the Organisation of African Unity, which was established in 1963. In this setting, and despite many multi-ethnic states or countries with ethnic minorities, it is not necessarily surprising that secessions had a hard stand in Africa.
The two authors of this book, both Africanist historians based in the United States, make it clear from the outset that there were indeed few secessions in Africa. Yet, their undertaking is nevertheless worthwhile, because not only has independent Africa witnessed a good number of secessionist, separatist, and irredentist conflicts, but it is also important to assess why most of them were unsuccessful and the reasons for the success of the few. To do so, they have adopted both a thematic and a chronological—though with overlaps—approach. The first part of the book is concerned with what they have called ‘The Civil Secessions’ – Katanga (1960–1963) and Biafra (1967–1970); the second with ‘The Long Wars’ of Eritrea (1961–1993) and South Sudan (1955–2011); and the third with ‘The New Wave of Secession’ – Somaliland (1991–present) and the Azawad (1990–1996). According to the authors, the first type was ‘imposed top-down upon pre-existing political entities’ (p. 16) and was marked by a conventional struggle; the second saw insurgents engaged in long-term struggles in pursuit of a national identity; and the third witnessed ethnic nationalism in weakened or failed states. While the ‘civil secessions’ ended in failure, it was only the ‘long wars’ that culminated in actual secession. This final aim has since, as the ‘new wave’ has shown, increasingly receded into the background, and given way to motives, methods, and outcomes that have blurred the lines between secession, separatism, and irredentism.
Through what amounts to quite a historical tour de force, Thomas and Falola astutely show that the secessionist endeavour in Africa depended inasmuch on the secessionist movement and its internal evolution, as it did on local, regional, and international factors. These exogenous factors notably played a key role in the failure of the ‘civil secessions’ and the ‘new wave of secessions’ during and after the Cold War respectively. Whereas the East–West conflict strengthened African states against secessionist forces, the withdrawal of superpower and other Cold War support weakened them. Yet, this changed again with the so-called ‘Global War on Terror’ when the United States staged a comeback on the African continent. Moreover, since the 2000s, there has been a ‘new scramble for Africa’, with China becoming ever more influential and even Russia playing a role. It would have been welcome to see Thomas and Falola engaging more extensively with this development in their long conclusion, rather than just briefly referring to it. But this is a forgivable lacuna, because a book like this one requires compromises. Based on historical case studies and some theory, it does not fall into a disciplinary category. As such, the reader will not find original historical research or theoretical developments in this book. The case studies, which vary in detail and length, are based on secondary sources, and the engagement with theory remains limited. In the final analysis, however, Secession and Separatist Conflicts in Postcolonial Africa provides the reader with a very readable overview of these conflicts, a typology of secessions, and an assessment of the causes for their failure and success.