Managing Violent Conflicts in Africa: Insights from the Principles of Thermodynamics

One of the major problems confronting many African states is violent conflict. Several international organizations and scholars have identified different strategies for understanding and curbing the problem yet many African States remain in turmoil. This paper seeks to use a different approach to examine the situation. With the aid of the principles of thermodynamics this paper seeks to answer the following question: What can the principles of thermodynamics reveal about the reasons for violent conflicts in Africa? In what ways does the poor management of violent conflict in a particular African State affect other states in Africa? What specific principles of thermodynamics can be used to understand how violent conflicts can be controlled or prevented from escalation? Some thermodynamics concepts and principles used in this study include; energy, temperature, heat transfer, thermal equilibrium, exothermic reaction, and Zeroth Law of thermodynamics. The findings of the study indicate how insights from the principles of thermodynamics can be used in peacebuilding activities and the prevention of conflict escalation particularly in Africa.

Keywords: Africa, Conflict, thermodynamics, peacebuilding, conflict prevention