Geography of War: Africa, Sub-Saharan

To summarize a topic this far-reaching in magnitude and scope, one must first recognize and define one’s limitations: As the original centerpoint for all human life and civilization, the region commonly referred to as sub-Saharan Africa has always contained within it extraordinary diversity, including diverse forms of war and peace. This entry, therefore, seeking to analyze conflict and the resolution of conflict in the multiple regions among thousands of peoples throughout many millennia, must begin with an acknowledgment that African historiography seeking to place African peoples as the subject rather than the objects of events has been a relatively contemporary practice. Furthermore, acknowledging that the framework of sub-Saharan itself has come under critique for potentially portraying as subaltern the world’s regions containing the greatest amounts ...