CAR Central African Republic: Fragile, failed and forlorn

[jmm99]

1. Should "anyone" be doing "something" about the CAR; and, if so,

2. Who is that "anyone" who should be doing "something"; and what is that "something" ?

That country is at least known to me. My aunt, a missionary, served pre-WWII and post-WWII "tours" in the CAR (when it was the Ubangi-Chari area of French Equatorial Africa) at Fort Crampel (now Kaga Bandoro in the Gribingui prefecture), roughly 300 km NNE of Bangui:



Another important question to me is why the CAR (Wiki) has had "a long history post-independence of tyranny" ? Integral to that question is what was its pre-colonial history of governance - and of exploitation by its northern and eastern neighbors (mostly Islamic), especially with respect to the slave trade ? If the area has had a centuries-old tradition of rule by "strong men", "Western democratic" interveners will have a very rough row to hoe (IMO).

As KJ has reminded us many times: look to the ethnicities and religions. So, from the Wiki:

The nation is divided into over 80 ethnic groups, each having its own language. ... Fifty percent of the population of CAR are Christians (Protestant 25%, Roman Catholic 25%), while 35% of the population maintain indigenous beliefs. Islam is practiced by 15% of the country's population.

From what little pre-colonial history I found, Ubangi-Chari was dominated by the adjacent Islamic states to its north and east. The seeds for an ethno-religious conflict are certainly there.

Finally, KJ has also noted the relationship of Boko Haram to the former Kanem, Bornu and Kanem-Bornu empires:



This map shows the farthest extent of the medieval Kanem-Bornu state.

Thus, Boko Haram has its "modern" Islamist aspect; but also a "nationalistic" aspect (based on the medieval empires) and an ethnic aspect (the Kanuri people), as well. I'm reminded of the Pashtuns of Astan and Pstan.

Regards

Mike