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Abstract

Demonstrably, internal conflicts within individual African states have tended to set off chain reactions and spillover effects in their specific regions. Indeed, this was the experience of the African continent throughout the last two decades of the twentieth century. As a result every region of Africa became a victim of several of the consequences and effects of those internal conflicts that began in specific states within it. Beyond Africa, the series of internal conflicts played into the hands of Afro-pessimists and Africa's detractors who lost faith in the continent's present and its future. This study succinctly examines the regional dynamics and consequences of two wars that occurred in West Africa—specifically, in Liberia and Sierra Leone—during the last decades of the twentieth century. It identifies the nature of the two wars and discusses how they engaged other West African states and how those other states in the region dealt with them. It observes that the spillovers of the two wars were not automatic or inevitable. Rather, they were a consequence of discrete decisions and actions taken by individuals, groups, and governments.

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