The Underpinning of Diplomacy in International Conflict Resolution: A View from Africa

The paper sets out to examine the underpinnings of diplomacy in resolving conflicts globally, especially those in the African continent. The content is anchored in most literature as portraying a hotbed of conflicts, with most of these conflicts having dire consequences on the social, political, and economic fabric of the continent—and by extension, the current global system. From the standpoint of the nature and pattern of Africa’s conflicts, the influence of geostrategic agendas underlies them. Yet, ironically, the leading nations of the current global system—the very actors involved in these conflicts—are the same ones leading the charge for their resolution. The question then is: How do these leading states, which are interested parties in African conflicts, ensure their resolution? The attempt to provide answers to this question led the paper to several conclusions, including that the biases of these leading nations—the same forces that underpin these conflicts—are tied to geostrategic agendas whose ultimate aim is to exploit Africans and Africa for their own countries’ benefit. Thus, their efforts at resolving African conflicts are just a farce. These conclusions, inadvertently, led to the recommendations advanced herein