Abstract

PIP: In the mid-1990s, conflicts in Africa decreased; apartheid had ended in South Africa; and the wars in Mozambique and Angola were resolved. The genocide in Rwanda was so shocking that it was believed it could not and would not be allowed to be repeated. However, in 1998, the number of conflicts and their intensities increased. Liberia and Sierra Leone suffer an uneasy truce. There is a low-level conflict between Senegal and Gambia. Ethiopia and Eritrea are in a simmering war. Somalia seems calm. The 1999 election in South Africa may renew conflict, especially in KwaZulu-Natal. Laruent Kabila forced his way into power in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and his government is now under attack; the rebels are supported by Uganda and Rwanda, while Kabila is supported by Angola and Zimbabwe. For the first time in years, Southern African soldiers have become involved in the internal conflict of another country, excluding peacekeeping operations. In Angola, UNITA has not disarmed. The Sudan has the longest running war in Africa. All of these conflicts on the African continent impact on the ability to contain and reduce the HIV/AIDS epidemic.