More Berlin conferences The Punch
Published 18 July 2021
Between November 1884 and February 1885, European powers met in Berlin to formalise the colonial carving-up of Africa. As conferences go, it was of unusually long duration. And that could only have been testimony to the magnitude of the prize being shared.
Then in January 2020 and June 2021, there were two other Berlin conferences featuring the same powers with a few additions. This time the goal was not to carve up, but to put together. And judging by the state of affairs around the continent, many more of such conferences could be afoot.
The recent Berlin conferences were for finding a solution to Libya’s fragmentation and civil war. Ethiopia too might need one soon. Somalia has had its equivalents and might need another. And then there is the Democratic Republic of Congo’s equivalent of the 100-year war. Though different in characteristics, they have in common the rejection of a central authority. A