Article: Borders without meaning.(how civil wars spill over into other countries)

What is a nation state? For most of us the definition is found in an atlas. We can see a country's borders neatly drawn on paper and usually coloured brightly to make the definition sharper. But, on the ground the definition may not be so dear. Take the case of Sierra Leone in West Africa. From the map it looks like a nation state, the reality is different. Parts of the country are controlled by units of two separate armies that have spilled over from the civil war in neighbouring Liberia. A Sierra Leonian rebel army has taken up residence in another district. As a result, 400,000 Sierra Leonians are internally displaced, 280,000 have crossed into neighbouring Guinea, and ...

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