Filippov V.R. Territorial Conflicts and Possible Changes in State Borders on the African Continent

Abstract: This article is focused on the research of modern territorial conflicts, and the prospects for state border changes in Africa. The borders of African countries that were drawn by the parallels and meridians by the British and the French at the dusk of the colonial era, are bound to change drastically. It is something that everyone knows, and Thabo Mbeki, the President of South African Republic, addressed this issue during his speech before South African Parliament, the day before the opening of 2002 First African Union Summit in Durban. The methodological basis of this work is the systemic, structural-functional, comparative-political and comparative-historical approaches, as well as methods of comparative conflict studies. The problem of state borders remains an acute political problem for the majority of African countries that emerged from ex-European colonies. The moment that African countries became independent, the borders that previously were dictated by purely administrative reasons, separating areas of influence of European countries, became the separation lines of nations, peoples and ethnic groups, creating a multitude of problems. This article contains the evaluations for risks and threat of conflicts that might emerge on the grounds of revising the old borders that are the legacy of European colonialism.

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