lving Chad diminished in the post-Cold War period, due in part to changes in Qaddafi's approach to his southern neighbors, which finally resulted in Libya's withdrawal from the Aozou strip in 1994. For the foreseeable future, the stability of the trans-Sahara region will probably remain unsettled. No one power appears likely to achieve hegemony there. Despite some indications to the contrary, France will continue to play a major role in containing local conflicts and promoting internal stability. Various African powers, including Libya and Nigeria, will vie for influence in the region, but it is likely to remain fragmented and preoccupied with internal conflicts, border disputes, political turmoil and daunting economic and social problems for the foreseeable future.
Historical Origins of Post-Colonial Strife in Chad
The Republic of Chad was carved out of French Equatorial Africa (Afrique Equatorial Francaise-AEF) as a separate colony in 1920 and became independent, along with the rest of French-speaking or francophone West and Central Africa, in January 1960. Pre-colonial history. Chad's principal significance since ancient times lay in the fact that it was a central way station along trans-Sahara trade routes. The desertification of the Sahara region forced many ethnic groups south including the nomadic Toubou or Tebu group, which is of mixed Caucasian-Berber origin and formed the first Chadian confederation in the 9th century AD. Islam came south to Chad in the 10th century in the form of Muslim traders and missionaries. According to Collelo, "immigrants, Arabic-speaking or otherwise, played a significant role, along with Islam, in the formation and early evolution of" Chadian states, the most important of which were the Kanem and Kanem-Borno Empires (9th-18th centuries) in central and western Chad, the Bagrimi kingdom to the southeast and the Wadai kingdom in the east (16th to 19th centuries) (5). All these states were heade...