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Abstract
This article examines the challenges to regional stability in the developing world at a time of accelerated historical change, marked by the end of the Cold War. It argues that the withdrawal of superpower patronage and ideological competition creates both new opportunities for peace and new risks of instability. The study identifies key sources of conflict in the developing world, including unresolved border disputes, ethnic and religious tensions, and competition for resources. The research analyzes the capacity of regional organizations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to manage these conflicts in the absence of the (often constraining) Cold War framework. The paper posits that "managing the acceleration of history" requires a new focus on indigenous, region-led conflict resolution mechanisms and a greater investment in confidence-building measures. The analysis concludes by assessing the prospects for developing countries to build more durable and self-reliant regional security orders.
Full Text
The end of the Cold War was widely hailed as a moment of global triumph, but for many regions in the developing world, it represented a period of profound uncertainty and "accelerated history." This paper analyzes the new challenges to regional stability in this new era. The study begins by arguing that the rigid bipolar structure of the Cold War, while fueling many proxy wars, had also imposed a degree of order and predictability on many regional conflicts. Its collapse threatened to unleash long-suppressed local rivalries and ethno-nationalist conflicts. The core of the paper is a comparative analysis of the sources of instability across the developing world. It examines the legacy of artificial colonial borders, the challenge of state-building in multi-ethnic societies, and the destabilizing effects of poverty and underdevelopment. The research then evaluates the preparedness of regional organizations like the OAU (in Africa), ASEAN (in Southeast Asia), and nascent efforts like SAARC (in South Asia) to take on a greater role in conflict management. It assesses their institutional capacities, their political will, and the extent to which they were constrained by the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states. The findings suggest that while the end of superpower rivalry offered a historic opportunity for the developing world to take control of its own security agenda, the institutional and political capacity to do so was often lacking, leading to a volatile and unpredictable transition period.