Managing peace in West Africa: A comparative analysis of structural reform and small arms control in Nigeria and Liberia

Abstract

Conflict resolution ensures that peace is restored to conflict environments. Beyond this lies the need to manage the peace that was obtained via conflict resolution. Certain policies and structural institutions have emerged as key ingredients in managing peace. Redistribution of conflict resources and other structural reforms are crucial to the process which actively engages with peacebuilding and conflict transformation. This study comparatively examines the challenges to peace management in Nigeria and Liberia. It also interrogates the central role of small arms control in this process and how cooperative security, security sector reforms and institutional frameworks and structural reforms can enhance peace management. The paper argues that the absence of small arms can reduce the possibility of recourse to violence in settling disputes, however, the structural violence inherent in African societies retain the capabilities of sustaining demand-side aspects of small arms proliferation. This means that small arms control is futile without commensurate structural reforms.