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ISSN : 2634-3657 E-ISSN 2634-3665
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The Russia-Ukraine War fundamentally has ramifications for interactions and relationships among states in the international system. Indeed, the invasion of Russia into Ukraine has enduringly changed the world and negatively affected the entire global system in different ways. From the perspective of diplomatic relations, the Russia-Ukraine war highlights strained relations and, more importantly, stimulates division among states in the global system through the United Nations' resolution. While some states voted in support of the UN’s resolution against Russia’s incursion in Ukraine, others either supported Russia’s stance or maintained a non-alignment position. This raises suspicion and doubt among states in the international system, which, in the long run, may determine how countries in the West or NATO member states relate to countries from the Global South, especially African states. Similarly, African states, especially those that supported the UN’s resolution against Russia, may likely experience a cold or lukewarm diplomatic relationship or interaction with Russia. Although much has been critically analyzed or predicted about the political, diplomatic, and policy issues or challenges associated with the war, its impact on African lives is equally disturbing. This goes to show that in today’s interconnected world, war in one country or region can create multiplier effects in other regions, seemingly far away. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the war is still ongoing, and Africa has not fared better or been spared from the ramifications of the conflict.
One of the consequences felt by Africa as a result of the on-going Russia-Ukraine conflict is in the food security sector. The war disrupted the supply chain of primary farm inputs, such as fertilizer imports from Russia and Ukraine. This threatens Africa’s capacity to produce food for its growing population. As a result of the war, global fertilizer prices rose, with severe implications for some African countries such as Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda in 2022. In addition to this, Africa suffers from increasing prices of food, fuel, and household commodities. This has severe implications for Africa’s quest to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2), as the war impugned Africa's pathway to end hunger and malnutrition and feed its populations. The foregoing evidently aligns with the World Bank report, which indicates that low production of food by African countries during the Russia-Ukraine war was because of low utilization of fertilizer by farmers, with "an average fertilizer application rate of 22 kilograms per hectare, compared to a world average that is seven times higher (146 kilograms per hectare)".
Besides, the war disrupted migration as migrants emigrated from the two conflicting countries to safer regions or countries. Importantly, African and other international students in Russian and Ukrainian universities have to abandon their programs as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Africa needs to adopt a pragmatic strategy that can tackle and reduce the consequences of the war, or else the continent may continue to suffer for a long time. This is urgently needed considering the recent Israeli-Hamas war. This too will have a ravaging effect on Africa if nothing is done quickly by African governments. African states and their actors must grapple with the short-term, inadvertent threats of the Russia-Ukraine war to their economies, food systems, and well-being. Africa, in collaboration with other states in the international system, should advocate for peace through effective critical analysis of the Russia-Ukraine war in order to bring the expected security and peace to the region. To attain this feat, it largely depends not only on dialogue or cease-fire but also on well-articulated research efforts that critically analyze the causes, dimensions, nature, perspective, and impact of the war on Africa and the global system.
The African Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies (AJPCoS) is an academic journal that can adequately offer the opportunity to early-career, established, and international researchers to discuss and analyze issues of conflict and peace at global, continental, regional, sub-regional, and nation-wide levels. The Russia-Ukraine global crisis has received little critical analysis from African scholars, especially in relation to its effects on food and human security, migration, investment, crude oil, prices of commodities, internal aggression, and military incursions in African politics, among others. This brings to the fore the need for a special issue of the African Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies (AJPCoS), where the lingering impact of the Russia-Ukraine war can be specially analyzed and discussed with the aim of establishing and disseminating findings that enhance the expected solutions that can mitigate the consequences of the war and its effects on Africa. This special issue of the African Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies (AJPCoS) is a set of critical research and astute scholarly contributions that exemplify the vanguard of academic inquiry. The interdisciplinary nature of the African Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies (AJPCoS) is reflected in the core issues or areas covered in this special issue. The contributors to this special issue cut across the African continent, bringing unique viewpoints and methods to bear on issues that span dimensions of conflicts, peace, humanitarian aid, global security, violence, strategic studies, government response, national security, and sustainable development. The concerted research efforts demonstrated in this special issue are hoped to expand the boundaries of knowledge, influence the pragmatic response of the African states to the war, and ultimately shape how we think about the on-going Russia-Ukraine war.