The Cold War and the Crises of Political Transition and Sustainable Democracy in Africa: The Failed Elections in Nigeria, Algeria and Angola

Abstract

The dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991 marked the end of the cold war. As such, regional conflicts in Africa and beyond fueled by the superpower relations in the bipolar world and characteristic of east-west ideological struggle began to abate. Africa, since then, began to experience a tide of democratic changes sweeping the continent. Henceforth, a New World Order marked by permanent and steady transitions of political power from autocracy to multiparty democracy began to emerge. It is well-established fact that political transitions particularly in Africa often trigger violence, tension and anxiety and strains ethnic and religious relationships.