Central African Republic: Portrait of a Collapsed State after the Last Rebellion

Abstract

Central African Republic (CAR) is one of the poorest and most unstable countries in the world and has occupied the top place in all possible rankings of failed states, instability, poverty, corruption etc. for many years. However, although the CAR has experienced almost constant instability for the last few decades it was only in recent years that it has received the media attention which was unseen before. Such an unusual interest has resulted from two successive internal conflicts: first, in 2012 the anti‑government rebellion drawing together the alliance of rebel militia factions, the Séléka, and a year later the insurrection of the opposing Anti‑Balaka forces. The article is an attempt to analyse the causes of the instability of the CAR and the current political and security situation in the country, taking into account, among other things, the results of the fieldwork conducted by the author in the Central African Republic, as well as his long‑time research on the phenomenon of dysfunctional states.

Keywords

• Central African Republic
• state dysfunctionality
• collapsed state
• violence
• development issues