Prof. dr. Ioana RIEBER^

Abstract. Africa remains a continent dominated by poverty and violence. Most conflicts are civil wars caused by precarious economic situations, corruption, territorial disputes among peoples of different ethnicities, bad governance etc. Many specialists consider that the root of these conflicts lies in the colonial policies of the Great Powers who divided the African territories in the XX^th century, according to their own interests, irrespective of the ethnic, cultural, religious realities.

Once they obtained independence, the situation of the peoples in the newly-formed states seemed to worsen due to poverty to which a number of wars and epidemics added. The Great Powers are still accused of negative involvement in the economic and political life of the former colonies as well as of funding and arming the ethnic groups in conflict. The extent to which the accusations are based on real facts is hard to determine. The degree of responsibility for the poor condition of the African states is hard to establish.

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