Splintered Warfare II: How Foreign Interference Is Fueling Kleptocracy, Warlordism, and an Escalating Violent Crisis in the Central African Republic
Publisher: Enough Project
Author(s): Nathalia Dukhan
Date: 2018
Topics: Conflict Causes, Governance, Peace Agreements
Countries: Central African Republic
Brandished as a weapon of war, sectarian violence aims to divide and incite hatred between communities. In the absence of the rule of law, those targeted seek protection from the same actors fueling the rising tensions. Those “protectors” are in fact seeking a popular base for legitimacy. They exploit a sense of ethnic or religious solidarity in order to enlist young fighters and mobilize funding. In this toxic atmosphere, alliances between armed groups proliferate and grow stronger. The more perpetrators of mass atrocities represent a threat, the more their negotiating power increases and the more they gain. [. . .]
The president has made few allies during his two years in power. Most of the political class in CAR and heads of state in the Central African sub-region share a negative view of his term. France sees him as a threat to its interests in this former colony. Fixated on remaining in power, the presidential clan is focusing on military and economic cooperation with the Sudan – Russia – China axis. Meanwhile, France is making diplomatic efforts and using stratagems to maintain its influence in Africa, under the watchful eye of the United States. Until recently, the CAR conflict had been termed a civil war, but it is now beginning to share characteristics with the war in Syria, thanks to its internationalization.