DIPLOMACY A NECESSITY

THE URGENCY OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT: A DIPLOMATIC NECESSITY.(Mali A Case Study)

By Celestine Chidi( undergraduate student of International Relation and Diplomacy)

At the end of a seemingly unending wars in Asia-specifically, Afghanistan and Iraq; hotspots on the war on terror, Africa had seen a ghostly peace of somewhat probable in the sense that much of the Western colonial powers were busy chasing those classified thereby overlooking this part of the world.

This gave a breathing space for what I would have loved to call, 'full epiphany' of how organized we are in managing our own crisis. While the so much talked about phrase ‘African solution to African problem, much of which political analyst haven hoped would be the rise of a sleeping giant, would be so shocked at the recent happenings in Mali.

Malian crisis had once again opened the debate on whether we as Africans are well equipped to handle our own crisis, employing the right technical capabilities and capacity. The big question remains on how ready are we to tackle our own problems without looking up to other powers outside the continent. Can we really handle problems on our own?

Are the right policy for crisis management and diplomacy at the continental level at its best? Over the years the western approach to solution have-not yielded much needed result as we can see in the Middle Eastern region. The high dependency on military approach as a solution is yet to produce the required or desired effect and calm.

A lot have been said about honest brokering, of which we can generally agree is behind much of the stalemate as much of the participant comes into negotiation with a certain interest in mind. That Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) had to allow internal indecisiveness before the issues in Mali can be tackled gave little to desire of its ability to look after the interest of this region which inevitably gave room for France to come in order to help contain the threat posed by radical extremism.

Security and pace and how to achieve these should be at the back of the mind of leaders at all time in Africa as the only way towards uplifting the backwardness that has bedeviled this region of the world. A clear policy formulation, well articulated-aware of the fact that there are more than enough academicians to guide into this, should be the rallying point for the future.

Malian crisis has once more made us a laughing stock in international politics as we again struggle to take and stake our mark/role as a people/Government willing and ready to take its place in international community.

Hence my idea would be for us to elect and mandate proactive leaders who can lead us in this direction to avoid much of the blunders of the past which requires external intervention from outside the continent, we can do this, if we as the people stop playing internal self interest at the expense of other countries interest and issues.