The problem with Africa is that they're trying to build modern nation-states out of populations whose first loyalties are to family, clan and tribe. Historical circumstances have forced them to skip over the very long process by which national consciousness developed in the local cultures of Europe.
Another problem is that these nation-states follow colonial boundaries drawn up in Europe in the 19th Century, without much regard to any local sense of ethnicity or nationality -- every national border represents a line at which, e.g., Britain and France agreed to recognize each other's claims to territory with that country's troops and settlers in it.
Is there any way the process could have been done to avoid the regrettable history of civil wars, dictatorships, etc., that has afflicted the African countries since independence?
Another problem is that these nation-states follow colonial boundaries drawn up in Europe in the 19th Century, without much regard to any local sense of ethnicity or nationality -- every national border represents a line at which, e.g., Britain and France agreed to recognize each other's claims to territory with that country's troops and settlers in it.
Is there any way the process could have been done to avoid the regrettable history of civil wars, dictatorships, etc., that has afflicted the African countries since independence?
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